HCM CITY — HCM City authorities are worried about encroachment of pavements and roads during Tết (the Lunar New Year) in three weeks’ time.

Illegal parking, street vendors, impromptu markets, and use of pavements to store goods, dump waste and put up shop signboards are all common problems during the year’s biggest holidays.

According to Department of Transport statistics, the city has 1,238 streets with a length of 1,716km that are over 7.5m wide, or 42.5 per cent of all roads.

Only on these streets can vehicles be parked.

Many districts like 1, 3, 4, 6, Thủ Đức and Củ Chi are regularly patrolled, and authorities send text messages warning regular encroachers, thus reducing pavement and road encroachment on normal days.

However, things could go pear-shaped if there is any laxness in patrolling, with street vendors with pushcarts capitalising on it.

Impromptu markets are a common phenomenon, especially in the city’s outskirts and around industrial parks.

“Public awareness of pavement and road encroachment is limited, street vending is a traditional practice and local authorities’ education is not effective and patrol is not often,” Nguyễn Ngọc Tường, deputy chief of the city’s Traffic Safety Committee, told Sài Gòn Giải Phóng (Liberated Sài Gòn) newspaper.

“The role local authorities play is the most important factor in improving the situation. Chairpersons of districts should be responsible for ensuring roads and pavements are orderly.

“The city People’s Committee will arrange for temporary markets or build new ones to prevent impromptu ones from coming up and tighten control of production and sales of push carts.

“Education should be taken to the doorsteps of the public.” — VNS