Liberia police chief bans street hawkers in the capital

Dec 15, 2011, 15:45 GMT

Monrovia - Liberian police removed street hawkers from roads Thursday, after imposing a ban on informal sellers in central areas of the capital Monrovia.

As of Thursday, hawkers who do not have an official market stall or storefront are banned from selling clothes, toiletries, electronics and other goods in the street.

The move was instigated by acting police chief Chris Massaquoi, who took on the role when his predecessor Marc Amblard was sacked after riot police gunned down opposition supporters on the eve of November's second round presidential vote.

It is designed to clear up the streets before Christmas, a time when many wealthy Liberians living in America return home to visit family.

But for Liberians whose only source of income is informal sales, it has come at the wrong time.

'It is supposed to make Liberia a better place for Christmas,' said Sylvester Plawo, who sells used cocktail dresses imported from America. 'But nobody has offered us an alternative place to sell our things.'

'The police have been coming after us,' said Zawie Barlow, who sells second-hand clothes from dustbin sacks that he pushes around by wheelbarrow. 'Some people have been arrested. We will try to go somewhere else to sell, but it is a big problem,' he said.

According to the UN's International Labour Organisation (ILO), about 68 per cent of employed Liberians work in the informal sector, including street sales.

According to a study released by the ILO earlier this year, when employment in the informal sector is taken into consideration, Liberia's unemployment rate is as low as 3.7 per cent.