Kublalsingh arrested in Arima market protest

ENVIRONMENTAL activist Dr Wayne Kublalsingh was arrested by Arima police yesterday after he threw himself on the ground to prevent a sanitation truck driver from going to power-wash the Arima market.

A defiant Kublalsingh was forcibly removed by a joint team of borough corporation police officers and police from the Arima station.

He was put in a police car and taken to the Arima station, where he was expected to be charged with several offences.

Earlier, Kublalsingh led about 40 market vendors in a protest near the market over their concerns about Arima mayor Lisa Morris-Julian’s instruction for all vendors to remove their stalls to allow the market to be power-washed.

The vendors, who have been calling themselves the Interim Arima Market Vendors Association, have also expressed dissatisfaction over market fees, claiming they are exorbitant.

They teamed up with Kublalsingh yesterday to protest, but were first kept at bay by the joint team of police. The drama started shortly after 1.30 pm, when the truck driver was heading towards the market and Kublalsingh threw himself in front of the truck.

After his arrest the vendors dispersed.

Yesterday the mayor said there were about 560 market vendors in Arima, but only about 40 had been protesting changes to the way its operations are supervised. She said all her decisions were based on consultations with the vendors and they had expressed satisfaction.

Morris-Julian said despite the protest, the power-washing will go on as planned.