In the days after construction began on a new market in Yangon’s Ahlone Township on June 1, the shopkeepers who had agreed to move their business from the old market to the new one learned they were being duped.
The shopkeepers consented to the construction of a new market after YCDC told them the building would have two stories. YCDC also said that vendors who had operated on the ground floor in the old market would get ground-floor space in the new one.
But as the frame of the new building began to take shape, it became obvious that the market would have three stories – not two. The shopkeepers also learned that the ground floor would be able to accommodate 90 shops, whereas the old one could house 220.
There was no way the new market would be as good for business as the old one was.
Charcoal vendor Ma Su told Eleven: “I’d been selling on the ground floor for years. [YCDC] said we would get our old spots back, and that’s why we accepted. Now they are not sure about their promise. They didn’t give a clear answer when we asked.”
The effort by Yangon authorities to move street vendors into two-story markets has foundered for years. Myanmar’s previous government erected 10 purpose-built markets around Yangon in 2015, but they remained empty for months.
Vendors say they prefer to work close to their customers on the street, and they would rather not have to carry their wares to and from a centralized market every day. Among vendors who do choose to work out of purpose-built markets, the pursuit of a ground-floor spot is a matter of survival.
Shopkeeper Myint Myint Soe told MITV: “We want to sell our commodities and groceries on the ground level of the market. After the three-story building is finished, we all will have to sell our commodities on the upper floor of the market. Buyers won’t reach us because they will buy what they need on the ground floor.”
“We also have trouble getting manual laborers to carry our goods,” she added.
In mid-June, the shopkeepers sought guarantees from YCDC, from the Ahlone Township administrator, and from their local MPs that they would be given spots in the market on the same floor as they had in the old market. When the authorities failed to make such guarantees, the vendors threatened to protest.
They made good on their threat on August 11, when around 150 shopkeepers and their families took to the streets to protest against YCDC’s deception and lack of transparency.
In response to the protest, lower house MP Ye Lwin vowed to raise the issue in parliament, and Mayor Maung Maung Soe ordered construction on the new market to halt until the conflict is resolved.
But on August 14, the builders tried to resume their work anyway, sparking quarrels in the streets between shopkeepers and YCDC officials. Some shopkeepers were filmed lying in the street in protest before being removed by civil servants.
The clashes ended when YCDC and lawmakers agreed to meet with shopkeepers to discuss the future of the market.
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