Vending at ‘Parliament View’ likely to be extended –vendors lament congestion, poor business
The clustered market layout
The clustered market layout

By Telesha Ramnarine and Clestine Juan
CITY Hall intends to extend by another three months the stay of vendors at ‘Parliament View Market’, located at Lombard and Hadfield Streets, Georgetown, south of Public Buildings, despite numerous complaints from vendors who were relocated there from Stabroek Market Square.The vendors were initially told their relocation to this ‘market’ would last for three months, after which they would know where their permanent vending base would be. The vendors were moved over to ‘Parliament View’ early in May, and, so far, have had no suggestion offered by officials regarding their relocation.

Vendor Loraine Spencer
Vendor Loraine Spencer

A source at City Hall has said the vendors would have to remain at this location for another three months.

“The City Engineer has said he has to discuss the matter with Town Clerk Royston King, but no options were discussed in a concrete way. We can’t just have three months here, three months there; some amount of normalcy and permanency has to be created,” the source offered.

The vendors at this temporary market site have no clue what the future holds for their businesses, but have been complaining that the new spot is bad for commerce. They are complaining about reduced sales due to bad relocation, and are calling for Government to intervene in this matter.

The Guyana Chronicle visited the vendors on Thursday, to find the vending site partly flooded, since it had rained earlier. Some vendors were seen sweeping out water from flooded parts of the market, while others were unable to vend because the tents were damaged by heavy wind.

REALLY HARD
Loraine Spencer, who has been a vendor for 25 years, said she is frustrated by the “poor relocation” imposed on vendors by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC).

“It hard, it really hard…I deh out here whole day and I only mek $20,” the distraught Spencer said, while pointing to her stand.

She said the tent provided by the M&CC has many holes because of its long exposure to the elements.

“I ain’t able no more. I begged fuh this lil umbrella so I can ketch my lil hand,” the woman said, as she stated that vending was the only way she earned a livelihood.

Fruit vendor Verna Granville, 63, told this publication that the layout of the market is poor, since “buyers aren’t getting to see the fruits because of the congested area”.

A vendor has abandoned his tent due to the lack of sales at the market
A vendor has abandoned his tent due to the lack of sales at the market

“We guh dead hay, cause we just deh punishing,” the woman lamented.

She also lamented the cramped space in the market. According to her, the area is hot during the day, and this causes most of her fruits to shrivel.

As it is, no specific details have been offered to the sellers, and so many of them are simply guessing their way through; or, as one woman told this newspaper, “We just have to follow the multitude.”

Vending for now 16 years outside the Stabroek Market, one vendor said that if the City Council had wanted to move vendors, proper arrangements could have been made to have vendors relocated and provided with specific details on how long they were going to be temporarily removed.

“They just gave us a couple days’ notice to move. You are leaving us out of business. It shows me that this was not properly planned, because if you wanted us to move, you would have prepared the place so we could have had a smooth transition,” the woman complained.

On a recent walk-about, Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan received numerous complaints from the vendors. He mentioned to this newspaper that the move by City Hall to re-organise the Stabroek Market Bazaar is perhaps the single largest undertaking in that vicinity since the market was constructed in 1881.

Pools of water at the entrance to the market
Pools of water at the entrance to the market

City Hall has said it is not seeking to put stakeholders out of business, but rather to ensure that vending is done in an atmosphere that is conducive, legitimate, and of mutual benefit to stakeholders and Council.

According to the Georgetown municipality, if the City is to attain top international status, change is imperative.

 

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