The sidewalks encircling several hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City have been turned into parking lots for motorbikes and trading areas for street vendors, leaving little to no space for pedestrians. Although the municipal Department of Transport requested that the People’s Committees of Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, and 11, where many large hospitals are located, crack down on the sidewalk encroachment, the issue has remained rampant as of Wednesday. Some sidewalk occupiers even put up barriers to stop pedestrians from walking through their parking lots, which can be seen on the sidewalks of Nguyen Chi Thanh and Thuan Kieu Streets near Cho Ray Hospital and along Ly Thuong Kiet Street near Hung Vuong Hospital, both in District 5. As a result, pedestrians are forced to walk on the roadway, endangering themselves and others. “There is no footpath because the sidewalks are full of motorbikes so I have to go on the roadway,” said Nguyen Tan Vinh, a resident of District 5. A … [Read more...] about Parking service operators, street vendors encroach on sidewalks near hospitals in Ho Chi Minh City