Addressing concerns of Abdali market vendors

The fact that the implementation of the decision of the Greater Amman Municipality to move the so-called Friday market from Abdali, in downtown Amman, where it has been held for several years, was met with protests from vendors necessitating the intervention of the riot police to restore peace suggests that the plan may have been flawed in some way or another.

The region is going through turmoil and the situation of most countries is precarious, at best.

Jordan has been consistently safe and secure, and this should make its citizens, including the vendors, even more grateful, and make them act maturely and wisely.

Protesters’ use of violence, particularly against police, including their use of Molotov cocktails, will not change facts on the ground. If anything, a breakdown of law and order can be exploited by some who could use it to further their agendas.

Protesters should have made the security of the country a top priority and avoided contributing to disturbances that can only invite more tension.

That said, perhaps it was the way the plan to change the location of the Friday market from its current site to an area that is more remote and perceived as less convenient, by both vendors and the public, that was lacking.

Consulting those concerned, convincing them of the advantages of moving away from a very congested area to one that, according to the municipality, has medical facilities and parking lots, should have helped.

The right thing to do would have been to agree on a plan of action that aims to address the parking crisis in downtown Amman, especially as GAM plans to introduce an efficient public transportation system to link the centre of the capital with the suburbs, as well as the concerns of the Friday market vendors and the convenience of their customers.

Now that the plan to relocate the stalls to a new venue is a fait accompli, the new site should be linked with the downwtown area of the capital through the planned rapid intercity public transportation system.

That would ease the concerns of all sides and free Abdali, this old part of the city with some beautiful architecture, of the clutter, hopefully, in time, reviving its lost charm.