Some vendors have returned to their usual spots in the sunshine city’s CBD and surrounding areas, the NewsDay reports. This is after the president, in a bid to curb spreading COVID-19 announced that certain sectors of the economy will be opened while others especially the informal trading sector will remain closed.
Vendors that spoke to the publication said they were pushed by hunger to come back and hustle for something to eat in their usual spots:
We have no choice, but to come and work because there is nothing to eat at home. At times, the police try to disburse us, but it is difficult to go home without anything to feed the family.
Health experts have warned that allowing informal traders to come back to their daily duties might be catastrophic as it might spread the deadly virus.
However, director for the Vendors Initiative for Social and Economic Transformation Samuel Wadzai said the government was not being fair in allowing other sectors to go back to work but prohibiting informal traders to go back to work:
It doesn’t make sense to have government partially opening industry and commerce while shutting out informal traders. How do they expect people to survive? There are no jobs and people rely on vending. Government is yet to disburse the cushioning allowances to the vulnerable and honestly, how do they expect people to survive?
More: Newsday