Lim to remove vendors from Carriedo

 After Rizal Avenue, Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim said yesterday opening the Carriedo Street to motorists is his next target.

Lim said in a statement that they will remove vendors’ stalls that occupy the stretch of Carriedo street from the Minor Basilica of the Black Nazarene or Quiapo Church to Rizal Avenue.

The announcement came almost two weeks after Lim opened a portion of Rizal Avenue, from Carriedo Street to C.M. Recto Avenue, to motorists.

“We have to open up Carriedo so we can connect it to Rizal Avenue. We have already opened Avenida (formerly Rizal Avenue) but there are still a lot of people complaining why there are still permanent structures along Carriedo,” Lim said.

The 77-year-old mayor had already relayed instructions to retired police colonel Carlos Baltazar, head of the Manila City Hall-Department of Public Service (DPS), to notify the vendors to remove their structures.

The existence of the structures made it difficult for the pedestrians and motorists to pass through Carriedo street, contributing to the traffic buildup in the area, particularly in Sta. Cruz and Quiapo.

Lim said their move complies with the law, noting there had  been previous court decisions wherein the judge ruled that parks and streets are beyond the commerce of man.

But Lim assured the Carriedo street vendors – many of whom sell clothes and pirated compact discs, video compact discs and digital video discs – that they would only be relocated to the sidewalks and would be provided with a one-by-one meter space, as provided for by an ordinance issued by the Metro Manila Commission, now known as the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority.    – Evelyn Macairan