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Street-Vendors : Flea market v.flee market

11 décembre 2013, 10:43

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The author despises the timing and the way the Mayor of Curepipe demolished the stalls of the hawkers. She juxtaposes the situation with that of England and questions if there are separate laws for separate people in the country?

 

I WAS browsing through your paper on Friday 29th November 2013 when I came across a rather disturbing article about street-vendors being persecuted by the authorities in Curepipe. The Mayor’s comments about “protecting” the town simply reveal how disconnected he is from reality. Can someone ask him why he has waited for the busiest month in the calendar to destroy people’s livelihood in such a cruel way?

 

A country which cannot guarantee 24 hour water supply in its capital should not play dirty with those who have been socially excluded for decades. Gross national happiness has nothing to do with big cars and big shopping malls. I cannot help but draw parallels to England where there is a market for every passion. Call them chowks, souqs, and even flea markets all big cities boast of such unique cultural attraction. They go back to medieval times in cities like London and Paris and are proudly considered as national treasures. Politicians in Mauritius need to educate themselves about the importance of street culture and stop prioritising dutyfree shopping for the elite.

 

Over the past twelve years, the Mayor of Birmingham has been welcoming the Frankfurt Christmas Market as the city’s biggest retailing event. The German market, as it is called, is located right next to two of the city’s most important shopping centres. Luxury brand stores are not in the least bothered about having an open-air market on their doorsteps. It all adds to the general festive spirit of the season.

 

I am sure many readers have fond memories of buying bread, milk, candies and other local delicacies like ‘‘glaçon rapé, kulfi malay and di lait caillé’’ from the corner shop and the mobile ‘‘marchand’’. Whenever I think of my childhood, I remember delightful treats like ‘‘compote tamarin, mais poc poc, glaçon rapé, gram bouilli, confits, du pain frire, gâteau zoreille, mais mouli’’. My childhood snacks did not come from foreign junk eateries some consider as symbols of progress and prosperity.

 

Not starting a polemic here, but we all know what happened in 1982 when the pact with the nation was broken. Those who took power in 1983 decided to play dirty with the backlash against a specific region and a specifi c ethnic group. I know this is taboo and we keep focussing on the economic growth that period has ushered. I grew up in that specifi c region and I do have vivid memories of how it was. Not how we are told it was.

 

Unable to find a job, those who were deliberately excluded started taking to the streets to put food on their own table. Had it not been for the entrepreneurial skills of these people, Plaine-Verte would still have been a safe haven for drug lords. Today, if the centre of the capital has been transformed into a hub for food-lovers and discount-lovers it is thanks to those who did not ask for ‘‘zot boute’’ from those who use them as vote bank.

 

There used to be a time when social exclusion was on everybody’s agenda. It even prompted one politician with a Messianic complex to proclaim himself a shadow Minister for the socially-excluded. Can the Youth Employment Programme take charge of all the young people on our streets if their lives are going to be shattered by the use of brute force? Can anybody find a decent job these days by not giving in to the predatory work culture to which authorities have become complacent and complicit at times?

 

UNLICENSED STALLS

 

I have noticed that the outcry about street vending is solely directed to the urban street vendors. The reality on the ground is that unlicensed stalls have been mushrooming all around the island. It could well be linked to the volatile economic climate. I leave that to the experts and let’s not digress. From Palmar to Grand-Baie, near Grand-Bassin, in big rural areas like Flacq, Triolet, and Goodlands, there are stalls everywhere. Not to mention the ubiquitous fourwheels stalls along the busiest motorways offering seasonal products to the public. Are there separate laws for separate people in the country, or what?

 

Why else, is the ‘‘marchand roti’’ in Port-Louis seen as a nuisance for feeding the hungry office-worker for cheap? Why are the police confiscating the goods of those who are offering cheaper alternatives to people who cannot shop at Bagatelle or La Croisette? Women are being chased in the capital for selling a few cheap items on the pavement. Is that how they should be treated? Without the shops of the poor, most women will be forced to stay at home as shopping would be too costly. Unless wearing burqa is adopted as the dressing code for working women. To those who are easily offended, get your head on your shoulder re-adjusted, please…

 

HAWKER CHEFS

 

Instead of going left, right, centre and everywhere every five years by deceiving the street workers with false promises, politicians should try a more inclusive approach. On the 17th December 2010, a Tunisian vegetable seller sparked some of the biggest human demonstrations seen in history. I am not saying someone needs to set himself on fire to liberate the street vendors from a tyrannical regime. Just start treating the poor in a more dignified way. Politicians need to stop using street vendors to score cheap political scores and to become Mayor. Or Best Loser.

 

To add insult to injury the budget has made provision of a ‘‘Special Fund’’ of Rs 25 million to give “discount shopping package” to tourists! What the heck is wrong with our politicians? Do they really believe people are that stupid? Why would tourist come to Mauritius to buy stuff they can buy in their own country? Not only does the tourist get access to the best beaches, he is, now, getting to shop at discounters while we are not! Where will that fund come from if not the public coffer? How about setting a ‘‘Special Fund’’ for those who have been marginalised for decades? Why not give the public a discount shopping package for Christmas by allowing the shops of the poor to operate as they have been doing?

 

We do have talented chefs on our street, why not encourage them like Singapore does with its hawker chefs? Using examples from abroad always seems to work in Mauritius. Who has not heard of the ‘‘gâteau bringelle’’ of Providence and the yummy ‘‘nutella crêpes’’ outside Pakistan Hotel along Desforges Street? They are two of the best things that have to be experienced if you are looking for that authentic fl avour of the region. Unless I am mistaken, Desforges Street is the safest place on the island to go to when you are peckish at night. The Municipality of Port-Louis and the Ministry of Culture or Tourism can raise the profile of that street by associating it with the father of the nation.

 

I seriously hope people start giving some serious thought as to how street culture could redefine and reshape local community. All major revolution starts on the street when the poor say “Enough”.