Street vendors are increasingly settling around Lake Anosy. Merchandise is now displayed on sidewalks circling the lake, sometimes extending across from Saint-Michel school. Some vendors have only been there for a few weeks.
"I arrived here two weeks ago. I worked as a driver for a company, but I lost my job due to technical unemployment. Since then, I haven't found work, yet I have mouths to feed, bills and rent to pay. This selling is the only solution I found to get by. And I couldn't find anywhere else to sell," testified a man selling hardware items this week.
Men and women, sometimes accompanied by their children, sell shoes, household linens, clothing, books and fruit. This proliferation of stalls is accompanied by sanitation problems. Waste is left on the ground and some occupants use the lake's edges as toilets. "They're degrading the lake's landscape," residents regret.
Antananarivo's municipal authority reminds that commerce is prohibited around the lake. "We plan to conduct a sanitation operation," says the market director at the municipality.
Vendors acknowledge their installation is irregular. "But we have nowhere else to go," they explain. They say they're ready to leave "if the municipality offers us an interesting location."
Their relocation could prove difficult. For these traders, the issue isn't just having a market stall, but especially benefiting from the visibility and foot traffic that a roadside location offers.
Miangaly Ralitera