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. 

“There are many vehicles traveling to and from the hospitals here.

"It makes me scared whenever I have to walk on the road.”

Vinh expects authorities to establish convenient parking lots for visitors to hospitals rather than having them depend on sidewalk parking services. 

“Without well-organized parking lots, shutting the current sidewalk parking lots will give visitors to hospitals a headache during their medical trips,” Vinh added.

The operation of sidewalk parking lots is only permitted on certain streets in Ho Chi Minh City in accordance with a list issued by the municipal People’s Committee and on the condition that a minimum of 1.5 meters of sidewalk is spared for pedestrians.

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