APART from the stern rejection of vendors at the Parliament View Market to conduct a flea market at Bourda, Mayor Patricia Chase-Green has chided officers of the City Constabulary for not ensuring that the area was properly cleaned and cordoned off for business last Sunday. The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) had made a decision to have the flea market opened on Sundays to facilitate vending between Alexander Street and Orange Walk on Regent Street.

Vendors at Parliament View Market, however, had resented the idea, complaining that, among other things, it was too costly to move their items from the old Royal Castle site to the Bourda location. Last Sunday was the first day that the market was expected to be opened, and Mayor Patricia Chase-Green thought she would turn up on the site to see how things were progressing.
She was “amazed” to see the unsightly conditions that existed at the intended location, and was angry that despite orders were given to have the street cordoned off, the traffic wardens on site would report to her that Chief Constable Andrew Foo directed that this be done only when it became necessary.
“There were cars parked on both sides of the street; there were social rejects still sleeping on the pavements at 10:30 in the morning outside of the Bourda Cemetery,” the mayor said, adding, “I saw the traffic wardens and asked them why the street was not cordoned off. I was informed that they were instructed by the Chief Constable to only cordon off the street if necessary, or as the vending built up.
“Now, I don’t know who could have changed the directive. If the Town Clerk instructed the Clerk of Markets and the Chief Constable about the decision, then the market area to be cordoned off should have been done either by 5 or 6 in the morning and the area properly cleaned…”

Noting that what obtained when she turned up Sunday morning were unacceptable conditions to ask people to go and vend under, Mayor Chase-Green said: “By what standards? I don’t know who could change any decision; it gotta stop somewhere; it shows some disrespect that a decision could automatically be changed to suit anyone.”
A BETTER LOCATION
When this publication visited vendors of the Parliament View Market, just south of Public Buildings, many expressed that they welcomed the idea of a flea market, but only at a different location.
Wendy Jordan and Errol (only name given) both said that the concept of having the market is “a good initiative” to help boost their sales. They argued that at their current location, persons in the front row receive most of the sales, while the rest of the vendors at the back rows are left without sales. As a result of this arrangement, many of the vendors claim to have seen a drop in sales.
Wendy noted, however, that moving her supplies from this area and taking it to the proposed flea market area would add to her already heavy expenses. She also claimed that this location is not visited by many customers. Another vendor, Corwin Thomas, said that having the flea market at that proposed location “ain’t really make no sense.”
He proposed that the market be set up on the tarmac in front of the Stabroek Market, and reasoned that the vendors could be there for the same period; that is, between 07:00hrs and 15:00hrs. He also reasoned that it would be much easier for the vendors to transport their supplies from the Parliament View vending area to the tarmac and back.
Meanwhile, president of the recently formed Guyana Market Vendors Union (GMVU), Eon Andrews, told this newspaper that the M&CC failed to engage the union in making this decision. Andrews also noted that decisions such as these need to be made only after consulting all stakeholders involved, and should have “very intense planning.”
The flea market is a pilot project introduced by the M&CC to allow vendors, preferably those from the Parliament View vending area, to sell school supplies until school re-opens in September. Last Sunday was the designated day for the commencement of this project, however, no vendors showed up for business on that day.