(Photo by Mohamed Omar\ File)
The new head of the street vendors syndicate, Mohamed Adham, said he is ready to cooperate with the government, and that the syndicate is working with the heads of districts in Downtown Cairo.
“We will try to reach a compromise between the decisions of the governments and the wants of the street vendors,” said Adham.
The former head of the street vendors syndicate handed in his resignation on Saturday, with Adham elected to replace him.
“The vendors will move to Al-Torgoman, as we should work for the country’s good and accept the reality, and the new place is going to be better,” said Adham.
He added that the syndicate will study whether Al-Torgoman is commercial or not – if it is, Adham said, “we’ll report it to the president.”
The interior ministry’s project to relocate street vendors to Al-Torgoman was launched last week and caused outrage amongst the sellers. According to the vendors, the relocation will significantly decrease their daily income.
Cairo’s deputy governor, Mohamed Ayman Abdel-Tawab, said that the vendors were violating public property, cause traffic congestion and increase electricity theft.
Abdel-Tawab pointed out that vendors are starting to move to Al-Torgoman, with the relocation going ahead despite some vendors being against the relocation.
Street vendors showed outrage at the decision to move, arguing that Al-Torgoman is a “non-commercial area”.
Former head of the street vendors syndicate Ahmed Hussein noted that the street vendors are “totally against” the relocation as they will not be able to afford their living expenses.
