Street vending banned in Kandy from January 01

The Kandy Municipal Council has decided to completely ban street vending within the Kandy Municipal Council area starting from January 1, 2024. Mayor Chandrasiri Wijesinghe pointed out that the main objectives of this step are to protect the beauty of Kandy city, where hundreds of thousands of people gather daily, and to minimize traffic congestion.

Further commenting on the implementation of this decision, the Mayor stated that although the relevant proposal was passed by the Municipal Council about six months ago, it was not implemented immediately, considering the difficulties faced by street vendors. He mentioned that since vendors requested time to sell off their existing stock, steps were taken to provide a grace period of over five months until December 31st.

The Mayor pointed out that although alternative locations were offered to street vendors many years ago, their abandonment of those locations and return to vending on main roads has further exacerbated this problem. However, addressing a press conference, he strongly emphasized that since the given grace period ends on December 31st, this decision will not be changed for any reason, even if the Governor or the President intervenes.

Meanwhile, businessmen at the Kandy Central Market state that despite paying relevant taxes to the Municipal Council for their trade, they face severe difficulties due to street vending taking place in front of the market. They further mentioned that although the Municipal Council was informed about this on several occasions, no proper relief was received. According to the Municipal Council's identification, there are currently between 60 and 80 street vendors operating in Kandy city.