CAIRO - While the closed circles of the elite seem today pretty much engaged in controversies over political features of new Egypt, change on the streets of Cairo has already rendered itself quite clearly. Many Cairo districts have haphazardly developed into an open marketplace for whatever cheap commodities that can be sold. In Doqqi, Giza Square, Zaytoun, Ramsis street or Mataria, it is all the same; pedestrians find themselves compelled to push their way in the road through heavy traffic because the pavements are occupied with street vendors. Passers-by for their part linger around the street sellers to make good bargains in buying household items, stationary, electric appliances, clothes (even neck ties and underwear), accessories, groceries, fruit, etc. Street peddling has long been a major feature of the capital, but as observers have noticed, the situation has become aggravated in the absence of the municipality police and with the growing number of young people that have been laid off in the wake of the January revolution. Before the revolution, the municipality police used to regularly crack down on the main sites where these vendors gathered to clear the streets for better traffic flow and ease of movement. Today Giza Square, one of the busiest in the capital, is experiencing its worst state of chaos ever. Sellers have set up mobile stalls to sell a diverse range of goods including shoes, canned food that has no validity date, books and T-shirts. Although some recent police campaigns have managed to drive off these transgressors, they have proved to be temporary measures, because the square seems to be a permanent attraction for peddling activities. The situation is surprisingly no different in Lazoughli Square in central Cairo, in whose vicinity lies the Interior Ministry premises. The absence, throughout the capital, of supervision on the part of the municipalities and the police departments concerned has made everything permissible from thuggery to selling hygienically contested foodstuff. According to local official reports, the economic stagnation, which has hit the country in the past few months, has contributed to the increasing rates of unemployment. The streets are, therefore, brimming these days with modest women who are the family breadwinners and ambitious young people. Although commodities available on the street are mostly Chinese-made and of very low quality, they are highly in demand because of their cheap price. Pavements are also being seriously occupied by vehicles including cars parked by garage attendants, usually because of the limited area of these garages, and because of inactivated penalties. The situation is not expected to be any less chaotic in the near future for several reasons. Recent public-police clashes in Al Tahrir Square seem to have brought the police back to the rearguard, which means they will not be able to control the streets for a while.
