<B>Yasmin Hedoo</B>

?Ever since I?ve been in Mauritius, I have been fascinated by the sheer numbers of hawkers on almost every main road. This number seems to grow continuously despite all the efforts made by municipalities, the government and the other authorities. In fact, they tend to grow like mushrooms, as once there is one somewhere, the number just increases drastically. What amazes me is that they sell all kinds of things, from handbags to shoes.

The worrying thing is that they are always in front of public buildings such as banks and shops, and sometimes it proves difficult for people to get in or out. Then you understand why some shopkeepers get annoyed.

I do understand that those hawkers are trying to make a living out of these ?businesses?, but sometimes they attract a lot of the negative side such as pick-pockets and fighting. More importantly, people get frustrated, as they cannot walk freely and at ease.

At the beginning, it was alright but I believe the situation is getting out of hands now. As I said, it makes walking very unpleasant. I think that, in a couple of weeks? time, especially with Christmas and other festivities approaching, the situation will worsen.

The good thing is that hawkers sell their goods at a very cheap price. But, on the other side of the coin, the problem is that, at the end of the day, the buyers will not really care where the goods come from. As a matter of fact, they can even buy stolen goods without knowing. Also, what about those people who earn their living within the law? Indeed, those shopkeepers pay their taxes, pay the rent for the locations and so on.

Furthermore, those hawkers sometimes are very rude to their customers. People often say there should be a good image projected for tourists. It is totally true, but they should have a good image for Mauritian people in the first place.

The whole point I am trying to get through is that I am for the fact that hawkers allow some goods to be more affordable for some people. On the other hand, I am against the whole disorganization of this!?