Let's start with the painful facts: There are no jobs, with
the
unemployment rate hovering around 25 percent and hitting the 50 percent
mark among youth.
اضافة اعلان
Another aspect of the economic reality is that the informal
economy, according to a local study released in February last year, constitutes
25 percent of the national income.
And here is the dilemma: The bigger the informal economy
grows, the more public revenues shrink. At the same time, and under an economy strained
by COVID, people should be given enough freedom to start their micro businesses
and the government should find ways to regulate the sector without using a
sledgehammer to break a nut.
I am not talking here about the educated middle-class talents
in the IT, tech, or freelance translation business working from home for local
and overseas customers. This is part of it, but these people work on their
screens from the comfort of their homes and do not necessarily support the
entire family with the money they make.
I am talking about the likes of Osama Abu Sbeitan, a
21-year-old college student, who helps his family by collecting cardboard boxes
from the central vegetables and fruit market, and then sells them for peanuts
somewhere else. A recent viral video on social media showed a municipal loader
smashing the cart to junk because it was "illegal". I have no
intention of being dramatic here, but leaving a young man supporting a family
of 11 jobless is a recipe for making a street criminal, or even a terrorist.
We need to help these people go out into the street to buy
and sell without harassing them. Of course, the law must be respected, but we
need to act in the spirit of the law and give these people a chance to save
their dependents from starvation, yet have in a place a long-term plan to fully
regulate the market.
The first problem is that when municipalities allow people
to have their stalls anywhere, carts roaming in the streets, food trucks …
etc., there will be chaos, so prioritization is imperative, coupled with utter
transparency so that people will trust that corruption in the form of wasta and
favoritism is not at play. The criteria can be simple: Give top priority to
households that receive financial aid from the National Aid Fund, which is not
sufficient at all, and in particular to families supported by women and persons
with disabilities, and to youth who have to pay college tuition.
Do not charge them anything, but grant these small
businesspeople a grace period of three years. After that, they are given the
choice of coming forward and applying for a permanent license and paying the
fees. They will likely do it if business is lucrative; otherwise, they will
choose to step out of business voluntarily and give others the chance to try
their luck with the limited spots available.
When people are sure that the principles of equal
opportunity and transparency are observed, they tend to be more law-abiding and
when case inspection campaigns confiscate goods or violators’ carts, municipal
authorities will have a solid defense, regardless of the harsh criticism they
might see on social media platforms.
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Opinion & Analysis
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