Colombo Mayor A.J.M. Muzammil said yesterday that street vending would be allowed only on certain pavements in Pettah and nowhere else in the city.

“We have decided to allow street vending on certain pavements in Pettah, with the exception of 1st Cross Street. This is a temporary solution for the Ramazan season, and once we decide on a permanent solution they will be moved to other areas. Street vending will not be allowed anywhere else in the city,” he said.

He said that the decision to allow street hawkers on pavements again was reached because of political considerations.

“There was a lot of political interference in the decision to allow pavement hawking, because elections are coming up. Everybody wants to be the hero of the vendors, so I had to take that decision. But now everything has been sorted out,” he said.

Speaking to Daily Mirror, the mayor said that he did not take this decision for his own political advantage, and that such a rumour was spread as a politically motivated slander to discredit him. (Jehan Gunasekara)