Markets, it is said, are to open for street vendors. Nesmahar Sayed talks to both supporters and opponents of the project while Sherif Sonbol captures the sights "Allocating markets for street vendors is very appealing to me. It is better than the hide and seek game we're always playing with the police," says Khaled Abdallah, 17, a street vendor at Ramses Square. On Monday, policemen started to chase street vendors away from downtown's main streets and squares -- in accordance with a campaign organised by the Cairo government. "The idea of the one-day market will help put an end to the random presence of street vendors on the streets," General Seif Al-Islam Abdel-Bari, deputy Cairo governor, explained. The new market will be held at busy spots, so vendors can easily find their clientele, according to Abdel-Bari. "The project will start with 15 places in Greater Cairo," he added, noting that around 13,000 street vendors are going to benefit from it. Boulaq Al-Gadid Street is one of the places allocated for holding the one-day market. The street, which lies in western Cairo, has been famous for the last 20 years for selling used clothes. "For the first time in many years, the street is going to be legally ours," Adel Anwar said. Anwar, a 50-year-old vendor, explained that he has been working with district council officials since last April, hoping to obtain licences legitimising his status and guaranteeing his daily income at the same time. "The pavement in the middle of the street has been totally removed so the street is wider, making room for our displays," he added. According to Anwar, the way security and district council employees deal with street vendors has changed positively after the 25 January Revolution. On the other hand, many newcomers have come and placed their goods in the street. "Those newcomers are looking for profits and do not care about the ethics and traditions in the district," he said sadly. Umm Mohamed, 45, a resident of the adjoining neighbourhood of Boulaq Abul-Ela for many years, laments what she perceives as a negative development. "Tuk-tuks [unlicensed three-wheel vehicles] are everywhere, leaving no safe place for us to walk�ê� it is much worse in the small allies where vegetable vendors cover the place totally with their goods." Hearing about the one-day market project, Umm Mohamed is excited about the opportunity for vendors to have legal space in which to work respectably. The main reason the street vendor phenomenon started, according to one police officer speaking on condition of anonymity, is "corruption": the high rates of unemployment and poverty in Egypt were good excuses for many people to invade the streets to sell low-priced products. Ahmed El-Hossari, 26, a vendor who also studies mass communication at the Open University, says the one-day markets are a good start for many young people who are looking for a legal and halal source of income. Ragab El-Meniawi, working on the same street as El-Hossari, admits that for many years he has had neither a shop nor a place of his own. "That is why I could not rent an area in this market," he said. The street designed for holding the new market is divided horizontally into small rectangular spots, each bordered by lines drawn on the ground where each vendor can put his goods easily. "Street vendors are required to bring the identity number, health certificate and personal identity certificate and pay LE50 per month," Anwar said with a smile: "a very reasonable price". On the other side of 26 July Street, street vendors, most of whom introduce themselves as university graduates, seem to be disappointed. "We were supposed to rent sections in the market, which lies next to the Carriages Museum, under restoration for many years. But unfortunately a legal struggle between the Supreme Council of Antiquities and the head of West Cairo Council broke out, leaving us lost," says Sherif Yosri, 32, speaking for the whole group. Although supervisors from the Supreme Council of Antiquities agree with Yosri, they insist on applying the law. "In 2002, a decree was issued, stipulating that an area of eight metres surrounding the museum should be left empty," Mustafa El-Bahi, one such, said. While he believes it is a good idea to launch markets for street vendors, he feels it should be far away from the museum, the restoration of which cost nearly LE70 million. Assem Taha, El-Bahi's colleague, believes the one-day market project is but a way to garner the support of district residents ahead of the upcoming parliamentary elections: "I say this because members of the Freedom and Justice Party at the former People's Assembly are involved in choosing certain areas in which to legitimise illegal activities for political reasons." The plan to move street vendors has not yet been implemented in Ramses Square. In this famous square one of the street vendors insisted on staying in his place, saying he was going nowhere. "If the policemen came to take my goods then I will come back again. We are experts in the hide and seek game," he admitted angrily. In other governorates from Giza to Assiut, although the one-day market project is not yet stable, policemen are actively removing vendors. Emad Makram, a 31-year-old book vendor in Giza Square says he found out about the project from the media but does not have the details. Will he move to the one-day market? "No," he said. He believes that he knows his clients and they know him too. "But I do not have confidence in the government yet. We've had very bad experiences with previous governments and the country was drowned in corruption for many years." Promises, he says, were not kept; projects often turned out to be fake or incomplete. "What we need more than anything is stability and security." While regular patrons of the Boursa string of caf��s outside the Stock Exchange are disgruntled about the pedestrian-only alleyway being turned into a street-vendor space, many Egyptians are upset about street vendors losing their income. "We complete each other", Zarifa Hamed says, standing next to Umm Hashem. According to her, street vendors offer their clients goods for reasonable prices and clients on their part help them secure their daily income.
