PAYNESVILLE, Montserrado – Paynesville’s efforts to reduce the crowds in the Redlight commercial district are causing tensions with traders.

Recently, the Liberia National Police began an operation to prevent petty traders from selling in the streets and among cars in Redlight. With this operation, police officers are confiscating and sometimes destroying goods of marketers who refuse to leave the streets. Sometimes, police can even be seen beating noncompliant marketers.

The exercise, which was initiated by Mary Broh’s Presidential Taskforce months ago, is intended to relieve Redlight of overcrowdedness and uncontrollable vehicles parking.

But vendors in Redlight are calling on the government to abandon its ongoing action against them. They are advocating for an alternative way to resolve the matter to please all parties rather than forcefully preventing them from selling. Some also claimed there was not adequate awareness made ahead of the operation.

James Walker, a petty trader in Redlight, said the police action came to him as a surprise. “We only came on Monday morning and met the police officers, and they asked us not to sell,” Walker said.

He called for the intervention of the central government. According to him, most of his fellow traders were self-supported youths who only survive on petty trading.

Nathaniel Tokpah, another petty trader, sees the police operation as a threat to his livelihood. He said for more than ten years, he has sold in the streets to support his family and sent his children to school.

Earlier, Emmanuel Matthew, the president of the Petty Traders Union, said his leadership was holding talks with the Paynesville City Corporation to stop the ongoing operation.

Matthew said the discussions were centered on establishing a demarcation that would limit petty traders from selling in “No go zones.”

He called on his members to observe measures to keep Redlight clean and orderly.

Police Spokesman Sam Collins has not commented further on the matter, but Paynesville’s Public Relations Director told The Bush Chicken in an interview that the police action is legal.

Jani Jallah said street selling under the laws of Liberia was illegal, adding, “If you want to do market, our law provides that you go to the market building officially designated for that.”

She offered that there were several options for marketers instead of selling in the streets. She named the main Redlight market, Gobachop, and the newly designated Omega Community Market as organized venues the petty traders can take advantage of.

Jani Jallah, Public Relations Director, Paynesville City Corporation. Photo: Gbatemah Senah

She said the ongoing restriction would reduce garbage generation and improve sanitation in Redlight.

According to her, street selling contributes to the huge generation of garbage in Redlight.

“The reason Redlight is so dirty is because all of the petit traders produce dirt on a minute-by-minute basis,” Jallah said.

She noted collecting garbage from Redlight is a significant cost to the city, with the need to pay for equipment and manpower.

At many markets, the marketing associations are expected to collect money to clean up the area. However, in many cases, while the fees are being collected from traders, the associations are not fulfilling their part of the bargain.

At the LBS Market, Jallah told The Bush Chicken that the marketing association was taken to court by the city government. The LBS Market Association has however not commented on the matter.

Newly paved road in Redlight, Picture: Gbatemah Senah

“You have to understand that the people are driven by commercial activities, and once you reduce the commercial activities, movements of people will follow,” she noted.

Without the restrictions, Jallah said the road pavement would have gone on for months because of congestion. She commended citizens for their cooperation during the nearly one week of the project’s duration.

While marketers are not happy with the city’s actions, some ordinary citizens are pleased with the transformation. Redlight is considered a hotspot for crime in Paynesville, and many have attributed the situation to over crowdedness.

A resident of the nearby Duport Road community, Darius Yelegon said preventing overcrowdedness in Redlight would reduce the crime rate. He praised the Liberia National Police for the ongoing operation.

Featured photo by Gbatemah Senah