Over the past few days, hundreds of small traders in Mai Dong market (Hoang Mai district, Hanoi) have had to move their goods outside to “quickly sell” after receiving unexpected news that the market would be closed. So far, these hundreds of small traders still don’t know where their business will go when they no longer have the market that has been associated with the people here for decades.
Once one of the oldest and busiest markets in Hoang Mai district (Hanoi), but in recent days, small traders in Mai Dong market have had to sell their goods quickly, even accept selling at low prices, any price, or cut losses to sell out their goods. They only have 4 days to move out of the market and return the premises for the Tam Trinh road expansion project, so more than 300 small traders do not have enough time to prepare. The economic losses they have to bear are understandable. Many small traders lament:
“We were not able to keep up, had to call people to help buy, quickly sell, lost hundreds of millions of VND”.
“There’s nothing left now, we’ve already suffered losses, we have to leave. I have 6 stalls worth hundreds of millions VND, but I have to liquidate them all for 35 million VND”.
“Small traders die from inside the market to the outside. They couldn’t do anything for 5 years to free and support the people, but how can we do it in just 4 days? How can we move so much goods?…”
Mr. Le Hong Quan, one of the long-standing small traders in Mai Dong market, expressed his indignation that he fully complied with the government’s request to return the premises for the project, but he could not understand why they were only given 4 days to move out – Photo: Quang Hung
According to Ms. Dao Thi Kim Dung, a member of the Mai Dong market’s Women’s Union, small traders were informed about the temporary cessation of business at the market on February 22nd, only 7 days later, they were informed that the electricity and water supply would be cut off and the market would be closed. This put hundreds of small traders in an unprepared situation, all of their goods have not been sold or recovered yet.
“Now how can a person solve a few hundred million VND worth of goods in 1 week? No one is able to keep up, and it brings a lot of disadvantages to small traders. Now the market management board must take responsibility because we have paid all the required taxes and fees every month, there has been no shortage. The market management board needs to take responsibility to get the authorities to approve our resettlement by the end of March so that all the goods here can be cleared. The market management board has not had any meetings yet, not even the head of the market management board has come down to resolve it, so business people in the market are very worried,” said Ms. Dung.
Currently, there are still about 300 small traders operating in Mai Dong market with an experience of about 20 years. Among them, many import large quantities of goods to serve consumers before and after Tet holiday. Now the remaining inventory has piled up, the business location has been recovered, which forced these small traders to sell out their goods right in front of the locked gates. Many small traders expressed:
“Now they only open 2 doors for us, all side doors are closed, so we have to bring goods out through the gaps in the doors to sell our goods, and we have the time as they announced, which is 4 days to move the market”.
“Although it is wrong to sell goods on the sidewalk, we have no other choice and there is no sidewalk for us to sit on”.
“These suitcases were worth millions, but now they sell for only a few hundred thousand. The reason is because the market has to liquidate and buyers force the price down. Even though I have the smallest business with hundreds of millions VND, only 40 million VND is recovered”.
It is known that the closure of Mai Dong market aims to clean up the premises to serve the Tam Trinh road expansion project. So far, the authorities have developed support policies for businesses, in which the support level will vary depending on each household, equivalent to the minimum wage of each person and not more than 6 months’ support. However, small traders believe that support needs to be carefully considered because the support level given from 2016 until now is too low. Most of the small traders have been affected by the land clearance, so the support level given will cause many disadvantages for the people.
Ms. Nguyen Thu Nga, a small trader in Mai Dong market, said: “With a support level of 1.49 million VND, that’s the minimum level that people receive. So I ask, who can live with only 1.5 million VND per month? For the past 27 years, I have never missed paying taxes and fees. So far, when the market is cleared, we haven’t had any comments because this is the state’s policy, so we really want to comply with it to protect our rights and alleviate disadvantages for the people”.
Small traders believe that support needs to be carefully considered because the support level given from 2016 until now is too low
When asked if they were willing to give up the premises to implement the Tam Trinh road expansion project, all small traders agreed and supported. However, their concern is that the support before and after relocation needs to have a reasonable plan because doing business in Mai Dong market is the main source of income for more than 300 businesses.
It is known that by the end of 2023, the Tam Trinh road construction project was approved for adjustment by Hanoi People’s Committee, with an implementation period from 2016 to 2026. Among them, Mai Dong market is one of the places that needs to be cleared immediately to serve the newly approved project. However, after the market is closed, the guidance for registering business at new locations, and the compensation and support levels have not received public consensus. This is also the issue that the Hoang Mai district government needs to pay attention to and address thoroughly to solve the bottleneck before implementing the project.
