00:00And in Panama, the Mayor's Office of the Capitol will this month evict informal vendor station at metro stations
00:06by delivering another blow to those who live on a daily basis and aggravating the subsistence crisis in the country.
00:12From Panama City, our colleague Rekha Chandir-Amani with the details.
00:17Negrita is 15 years old as an informal vendor, but her story is not one of celebration at the age of 12 she took to the streets to survive.
00:27And today, from her modest stall of natural herbs in the 5 de Mayo Square in the heart of the canal capital, she supports her young children.
00:36However, her livelihood hangs in the balance just a few steps away in the subway station that bears the same name as the plaza.
00:44The Mayor's Office is moving forward with an eviction that will leave the future of at least 50 families who make a living from street vending in the surrounding area up in the air.
00:52I say that they should not remove people who have these positions like me, because you are not here because you want to be.
01:03And this is our daily sustenance. If we had a job, we wouldn't be here.
01:06We are clear that this part belongs to the train, and that they have to have some, as I said, some parameters so that if the train has an emergency,
01:19God forbid, they have to have the exit and evacuate the people, but if you focus on the front, we have enough space so that the ambulances can enter and exit.
01:29The Mayor's Office has offered to relocate them to a building adjacent to the station, but, according to the vendors,
01:40this building does not meet the minimum conditions for them to continue their activity.
01:46We want another dialogue, because after we found out, the papers are not up to date.
01:52The National Civil Protection System and the Fire Department are not giving permission for that building, but they don't care.
01:58The building is here in front of the subway. It's not even painted. It has no parameters for a human being.
02:05The Authority of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises estimates that more than 700,000 Panamanians live from informal commerce in the country.
02:17These evictions could aggravate the situation of these families if replicated in other parts of the capital.
02:21How are informal vendors born? How is the informal economy born?
02:29From unemployment, from the lack of attention, the lack of vacancies there, and that may arise.
02:38If they evict us from here, what do you expect?
02:41I am going to be evicted from where I live, right?
02:43Because I won't have enough to pay my rent.
02:45I want them to put us in a good place if they don't want us here, right?
02:54I ask the mayor to touch his heart, that those 8 months they want to give us to relocate us later.
03:00Those 8 months, what are we going to do with our bellies?
03:03How are we going to eat?
03:04How are we going to survive?
03:05Let's hope that this government will help informal vendors, and not just remove them just like that.
03:16If they are going to remove them, they should have something specific to put them in.
03:24One is working honestly, if one has to pay taxes one pays them.
03:28Let them say, because what will they be left with?
03:30In Panama, informal vendors represent 12% of the labor force, according to official figures.
03:43Six out of ten are women, many of them heads of household, and 95% lack social security.
03:48Although this informal trade is vital for thousands of families,
03:51the reordering operations have affected at least 8,000 households between 2020 and 2024,
03:56according to reports from the Ombudsman's Office.
03:58According to reports from the DefensorÃa del Pueblo,
04:01Reca Chandiramani, Telesur, Ciudad de Panamá.
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