Street vendors setting up stalls all over the island ahead of events like Valentine’s Day and Mother’s Day are still not adequately regulated, it has emerged.
More than a year after the Chamber for Small and Medium Businesses (GRTU) initiated talks with the Economy and Justice Ministries, the situation has remained unchanged and businesses are still suffering drops in sales as a result of the unregulated vendors.
Speaking to this newspaper yesterday, GRTU chief executive Abigail Psaila Mamo said chamber members had been complaining about having to compete with vendors who sell goods on the roadside.
The street vendors obtain permits from the local council, but according to Ms Psaila Mamo, such permits are only intended to be used by those setting up stalls during village feasts.
“Last year we promised members an intense year of action, and while we have been working on that, we have come across stumbling blocks from both the economy and justice ministries,” she said.
The Economy Ministry, responsible for the Commerce Department, is putting the onus on the Justice Ministry, arguing that since the permits were issued by the local councils, it was the Justice Ministry that should regulate the vendors.
According to Ms Psaila Mamo, however, discussions with Justice Minister Owen Bonnici did not yield much.
“We have been told by the Justice Ministry that stopping this [the licensing] would mean cutting off a significant part of the councils’ income,” Ms Psaila Mamo went on.
The CEO said the GRTU was concerned about the lack of regulation on such permits, adding there was no fixed fee and that there had even been instances where vendors could bid for the permit.
Members, she added, have reported some 30 per cent decreases in sales, a figure always on the rise as more vendors set up stalls.
While businesses were restricted to the location of their stores, the vendors could set up at popular junctions where it was easier for people to make purchase, Ms Psaila Mamo went on. She also questioned whether those selling goods on the street were subject to the same inspections as shop owners.
The chamber has since resorted to meeting with Prime Minister Joseph Muscat to ask for the issue to be addressed, but it has yet to receive feedback on how this might happen.
“The idea of a stall is to have it there for a couple of days during the village feast. Let’s hope things change by Mother’s Day because businesses are suffering because of this,” Ms Psaila Mamo said.
In the coming weeks, the chamber will be circulating a petition among its members and is also in the process of drafting proposals should the ones put forward by the government be deemed inadequate, she added.