Civil servants at Thu Thua district in southern Long An province have to promise orally and in writing to ‘boycott’ the old local market and pavement stalls and do shopping at the marooned new market to boost its sales.

The district’s People’s Committee has twice requested local government employees to strictly do shopping at the newly-built, ‘deserted’ Thu Thua market.

The committee recently asked civil servants in the area to promise in writing that they themselves and their families will strictly comply with the request.

Dinh Ngoc Lam, a local official, admitted to the request, saying he saw nothing wrong with it.

Sales at the new market, located some 1 km from the old one, remains poor since opening in July 2012. A mere 30% of the stall owners at the old market move to the new one due to exorbitant stall rents.