Chaguanas market vendors upset

UPDATE:

CHAOS broke out at the Chaguanas market yesterday when over 20 vendors were barred from selling their produce along the walkways.

President of the market vendors association, Crystal Dillon, said they were told about one month ago that they could not continue to sell in those areas as it presents a health and safety risk.

After Municipal police barred the vendors from entering with their produce around 7am, they assembled and walked to the nearby Chaguanas Borough Corporation where they met Mayor Gopaul Boodan. He was sympathetic to their plight and walked back to the market with them. Chaguanas West MP Ganga Singh and Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial were on hand to lend support to the vendors.

Dillon told Newsday there is no risk and the vendors believe they are being treated unfairly.

“For many years these vendors were given chits and charged a fee for using the spots, then the new administration wants to stop them from selling and expect that we will accept this? No, that is not going to happen,” she said.

Standing on a chair to address the group of almost 100 people, Dillon accused the administration of sucking the life out of the market.

“When they keep pressuring us with these ups and downs, what do you think they are doing? They are breaking down this structure to make the people with the groceries have more. Allyuh sucking a bone, this is fish bone here already because we done reach down to skeleton, and when you keep on sucking from the marrow, it have nothing again.”

She said the administration has also given stalls to new vendors who never sold in the market before. She said the vendors are also being barred from bringing their own wooden pallets to store produce on and are told they cannot leave their produce overnight in the market.

“It is about six years now this administration giving all kinda trouble, we want to be part and parcel of all decision making from now on because without the vendors, there would be no market.”

After an hour-long meeting outside the administrative office, Boodan told the vendors that although he cannot change the rules of the market, he would grant them a seven-day amnesty so they could sell the produce they had already bought.

He said within the seven days, he would meet with them and the market administrators to come up with a solution.

Boodan told Newsday the changes are done as part of a reorganisation of the market after shoppers complained that vendors had extended their stalls and blocked the walkways.

ORIGINAL STORY:

CHAOS broke out at the Chaguanas Market this morning when over 20 vendors were barred from selling their produce along the walkways.

President of the Market Vendors Association Crystal Dillon said although the vendors were told they would not be allowed to sell in those areas before, they believe they are being treated unfairly.

“For many years these vendors were given chits and charged a fee for using the spots, then the new administration wants to stop them from selling and expect that we will accept this? No, that is not going to happen,” Dillon said. She said for years the vendors have endured unsanitary conditions and have been disrespected by market clerks.

After Municipal police barred the vendors from entering with their produce around 7 am, a group assembled and walked to the nearby Chaguanas Borough Corporation where they met with Mayor Gopaul Boodan. Boodan was sympathetic to their plight and walked back to the market with them.

Chaguanas West MP Ganga Singh and Couva North MP Ramona Ramdial were both on hand to lend support to the vendors. Boodan tried to get market clerks in the administration office to come out and address the vendors but the staff refused.

The vendors then threatened to storm the office and occupy it until their issues were resolved. Boodan was able to keep the peace and after an hour-long meeting outside of the administrative office, he told the vendors that although he cannot change the rules of the market, he would grant them a seven-day amnesty so they could sell the produce they had already bought.

He said within the seven days, he would meet with them and the market administrators to come up with a permanent solution.