Carts banned from markets of Omdurman in Sudan

Municipal authorities at Libya and Abu Zeid markets in Omdurman, adjacent to the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, have banned the owners of carts from working in both markets and carried out extensive campaigns against them during the past days.

A number of the cart owners told Radio Dabanga on Wednesday that the municipalities banned cart owners from working inside both markets, and replaced them with motor tricycle rickshaws, popularly known as tuk-tuks.

They said that the authorities of Libya and Abu Zeid markets imposed a fine of SDG300 ($50) on any owner of cart working within the markets.

The cart owners have criticised the decision as an unjust.

One of the cart owners confirmed that 5,000 families have been affected by this decision. They accuse companies that import the Indian-made motor tricycles of collaboration with the municipal authorities.

The cart owners say they have taken legal advice, and their lawyer “received confirmation form the court that the decision was illegal”.

They said they have hired a lawyer to represent them who got a decision from the court that the decision was illegal.

Tea sellers

In a similar clampdown on informal traders, as reported by Radio Dabanga last week, Khartoum’s women tea sellers are concerned about a decision issued by the Commissioner of Khartoum locality to withdraw their permits to sell tea along Nile Street, the boulevard that follows the Blue Nile.