VietNamNet Bridge –  The capital People's Committee has called on district authorities to halt the issue of licences allowing cars to park on city pavements.

Organisations that already have licences were ordered to reserve at least 1.5m of pavement space for pedestrian use, said committee deputy chairman Nguyen Van Khoi.

Tran Dang Hai, deputy chief inspector of the Ha Noi Department of Transport, said that in 2007, district committees were instructed to manage pavements to allow some cars to remain.

The number of pavements used for parking space has increased to such an extent that urgent measures had become a necessity.

In the past three months, the city's Traffic Police punished more than 4,000 people for parking their cars illegally, temporarily seizing more than 200 vehicles and 3,800 driving licences.

Meanwhile, Ha Noi Department of Transport inspection fines amounted to VND8.1 billion (US$389,000) based on traffic rule violations, more than 8,800 of which related to illegally parked cars.

Around 70 per cent of cars parked illegally were found on pavements in Hoan Kiem, Dong Da, Ba Dinh and Hai Ba Trung districts, Hai said.

The city's interdisciplinary inspectors fined 120 illegal parked vehicles at a total of VND2.4 billion ($115,380).

In the past three months, the city experienced 25 prolonged traffic jams due to vehicles encroaching on pavements.

Hai said that parking violations had increased by more than 20 per cent compared with the second quarter of the year due to a 10-15 per cent annual rise in the number of personally owned cars.

At present, the city plays host to around 3.8 million motorbikes and 372,000 cars. In the first six months of the year, city police licensed 28,000 new cars and 150,000 new motorbikes, according to Department of Transport statistics.

Punishments related to illegally parked vehicles and parking spots were at a VND800,000 ($38) and VND20 million ($960) low, he commented.

Mai Quang Thang, who often drives his seven-seater through Hai Ba Trung District, said it was difficult to find legal parking areas.

"I mostly end up having to park my car on the pavement at a price three times higher than normal," he added.

In the coming months, city inspectors would consider withdrawing work permits belonging to owners of some parking places, Hai said.

Ward and district authorities needed to co-ordinate with city inspectors in controlling illegal parking, he added.

VietNamNet/Viet Nam News