Hanoi proposes cameras to record pavement violations

Temporary markets still appear on many street pavements in Hanoi.

Local authorities’ crackdown on pavement encroachment has proved inefficient. At the height of the campaign in March last year, pavements were tidied up. However, after the crackdown ended, residents continued to encroach upon sidewalks for parking and running businesses.

Temporary markets have even appeared on streets like Giap Nhat Street and To Huu - Van Phuc crossroad, the Lao Dong (Labour) newspaper reported.

Vu Van Vien, director of Hanoi's Department of Transport said that when the authorised forces are on duty, locals clean up everything on the pavement. When they are gone, they continue to set up businesses on the sidewalks.

Installing cameras to record violations will help street order management. It is impossible for the authorised agencies to be on duty round the clock to discover violations, he said.

The department has studied the proposal of some inner districts to replace fixed cameras with mobile cameras.

Dao Ngoc Nghiem, vice chairman of the Hanoi Urban Planning and Development Association, said that the camera solution is only a short-term one.

People who run businesses have no choice but to park vehicles on the pavement, he said.

The first thing to do is to step up dissemination of information to change public mindset so that they understand that public space is commonly owned by everyone, not only by any individual.

Imposing fines on pavement encroachment without careful consideration might be counter-productive, he said.

“It is necessary to have a private space for vendors and build smart or underground parking lots. Without infrastructure, violations will continue despite punishment,” he said.

He also wondered how the fines via cameras will be issued given the large number of violators.

Lawyer Dang Van Cuong from Hanoi Bar Association told the newspaper that recording and punishing violations via camera are possible. However, putting it into practice is not simple.

Cameras must be installed synchronously. “We need to have camera supervisors who identify who is in the footage and announce the fines to violators. We have to consider the feasibility of administrative fine implementation,” he said.