Tue, Apr 04, 2000 page2

• Fines aren't fair, say city's hawkers

  CRACKDOWN Street vendors are feeling pressure from a new city initiative to curb roadside peddling, but police say the real solution is find proper venues for them

  • By Ko Shuling / STAFF REPORTER
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  Chen Yu-hsia (陳玉霞), a fruit vendor, says she has to pay NT$12,000 a month to rent a space outside a store on a Taipei street corner.

  Chen says she sells between NT$1,000 and NT$3,000 worth of fruit per day, but receives on average one or two municipal citations per week in the process.

  That, she said yesterday, is a real burden, because she has to support both her husband, an Alzheimer's disease sufferer of 10 years, and a 23-year-old son with psychological problems.

  Bad luck has continued to haunt her over the past 15 years since she started to sell fruit in the Changchun market (長春市場) area of the city. Last year, she was handed down a three-year probation sentence after a six-month legal battle with local police for illegally occupying a public area.

  Seen by many as eyesores on the streets of Taipei -- although equally by others as an integral part of Taipei's charm -- illegal vendors play a game of "cat and mouse" with police patrols on a daily basis.

  Having received another ticket yesterday, Chen is feeling first-hand the effects of an aggressive crackdown on street vendors and illegal motor scooter parking.

  The action is part of the city's road barrier crackdown program, initiated by the Taipei Traffic Police Corps (台北交通大隊) and implemented by 400 police officers from the corps and 14 branch police offices, along with officials from the Bureau of Environmental Protection, the parking management office, and district offices.

  So far, a total of 319 tickets have been issued and 828 motor scooters towed away. Violators face a fine of NT$1,200.

  Vendors were less than happy.

  "What do they expect me to do to make a living? Rob a bank?" Chen said.

  Chien Shu-fen (簡淑芬), who earns about NT$5,000 a day as a mobile fruit vendor, says four to five tickets a week bothers her .

  "I just let them write the tickets ... I don't have any money to pay anyway," she said. "I don't think a large-scale crackdown makes much sense, although I'm aware that the police officers have to do their job."

  "Often we have to play `cat and mouse' with the vendors, but that's all we can do," said police corps chief Lu Pi-Tsung (呂碧宗).

  Lu said that the difficulty in eradicating the problem of illegal vendors lies in light sentencing. "We simply cannot do anything about those who refuse to pay their fines, and fines of NT$1,200 aren't much of a deterrent," he said.

  People's purchasing habits are partly to blame, he said.

  "We have many well-designed public markets, but I don't know why people hesitate to go there. Instead, they prefer traditional markets," he said.

  Wufenpu (五分埔) police department chief Chung Chin-lung (鍾金龍) said street vendors need to learn to be responsible.

  "Writing tickets and admonishing them simply doesn't solve the problem. Street vendors need self-discipline," he said.

  Both officials and vendors agreed that a final solution to the problem lies in a comprehensive management plan.

  "What is really needed is to give vendors a bigger and better venue to sell, a place where things are well-organized and well-managed," said Huang Lung (黃龍), chief of Minsheng West Road police station.
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