Informal sellers faced very tough weeks last year due to closures and limited space. The county seeks to defend itself with these residents, with new ventures ranging from temporary fairs to turning them into entrepreneurs.

If there is a union affected by the pandemic, it is Informal sellers, Whose income comes from daily sales. In the beginning came the incarceration cases, which forced them to isolate themselves in their homes and rely on aid that they did not always receive. Then, little by little they began to take to the streets, they had to move to other areas, in search of the most crowded places, since many companies were still operating remotely and their income depended on the number of pedestrians. This meant another problem for them: Crowds that were consistently reported as a risk of contagion to sellers, buyers and citizens.

With the gradual reopening, hope came thanks to the program. ”Bogota under the open sky“, Which was devised by the county to revitalize restaurants, food bars and other establishments, above all. But with the strategy, whose premise was to give the official portion of the public space to organize tables and chairs and resume some of the activities they introduced, little or no space was left for the street vendors. , Who had to settle in popular trade areas.

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With the responsibility of introducing 82,453 unofficial vendors identified in the capital, several county entities have designed a series of plans to improve conditions for these residents and include them in the distribution of public spaces, which are currently one of the most appropriate strategies to continue mitigating virus transmission. Part of this commitment is from the defender of the public space administrative department (Daddy), And its mission is to regulate the use and exploitation of open spaces through which the residents of the capital move.

Dadep’s new director, Alejandra Rodríguez Cortés, who took over at the beginning of this month, explains that the entity’s role in informal sales matters is limited to organizing the space and they are not the authority regarding the specific offerings of informal sellers. “This happens through a work transversal and the Institute for Social Economy (IPES) He has a big job with these residents, to give them the offer of resettlement, to ensure their rights, and to be arranged in times of pandemic, “he explains.

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At this time, Dadep is working on a new regulation for the Outdoors Program, in which they hope, through broad consultation, to include informal vendors, pedestrians, and bicycle users, bearing in mind that the first phase of that strategy has also limited many walking and bike travel spaces.

A commitment to keep informal sellers afloat from IPES. Lepardo Esbrilla, Director of the Entity, stated that this administration seeks to change the perception of these residents regarding the public space. There is a perception that the solution is to get them off the streets, and this is not the case. Many do not see that economic use can take place at the level of large cities, “he says. In this sense, its strategy is to eliminate issues such as smuggling or intermittent fees with tactical urban planning, that is, space management through demarcation of borders, which are agreed upon with The same informal sellers and even formal businessmen, the alternatives that they offer for this population.

One of these economical options is the handover of 3,300 buildings between semi-fixed (tricycle) and stationary and real estate at critical points such as San Andresetto and Quirigua on July 20 and August 7 and the center (Santa Fe, Plaza España and St. Victorino). Of these 3,300, 2,310 are already employed and the idea in the short term is to increase employment to 2,970.

To this end, IPES is adapting commercial buildings and developing a new paradigm for portable urban solutions, the mainstream strategy will be implemented from June, with work with Dadep and the Institute for Urban Development (IDU) going to be key. “Temporary exhibitions will be held at different times of the year, with products and activities depending on the season. They will be rotated in different areas of the conglomerate and it is a model consisting of places with showcases, chairs and portable tables, allowing the activity to be carried out in a comfortable way,” notes Asprilla.

Meanwhile, IPES strives for the work to be carried out in public places in an orderly manner, so it performs markup by means of QR codes, which allow any authority to know who the seller is and under what conditions it is allowed. To develop its work. The idea of ​​this profile is to provide entrepreneurship, training and promotion through social networks.

In terms of new businesses, the goal this year is to support 800 operations with economic incentives ranging from $ 400,000 to $ 1.5 million for vendors or family groups that start a business or manufacture a product, but have no business training. The director of the International Institute of Educational Sciences adds: “The drive is in machines or raw materials, they can even enter a training track with verification of high school or specific courses.”

At the same time, the entity offers courses on food circulation, due to which this aspect does not exist. It also pulls 118 pieces of furniture (the traditional gray bungalows), as there are many that have not been used. The last task to demand the work of these residents and to improve their working conditions is their inclusion in the pension funds. Today they have 4,177 Colpensiones sellers and aim to enter another 22,000 this year. After that, it is hoped to make room for access to Social Security.