Pre-paid system for Macoya market

THE congestion, fight for parking space and complaints by residents near the Norris Deonarine Northern Wholesale Market in Macoya, will soon be a thing of the past as a new carpark was opened yesterday. It would be fully functional within a month’s time, according to Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat.

There are currently about 400 spots for parking for vendors and buyers but with the pre-paid system, farmers would not have to come and and fight for a space but would be allocated a spot for $20 across the board. Rambharat said this was an infrastructure project which could only work if there was good management from the conception stage to the construction stage. “We have to deal with some of the management issues. It is a system of managing the use of the carpark. People who come here to park come to do business. They no longer have to come at 2 or 3 am to get a prized space to park.

Proper management systems would replace that ad hoc system to ensure we have order, predictability and responsibility for Namdevco (National Agricultural Marketing and Development Corporation) to manage.”

He said about $120 million changed hands at this market for the year, but it could be closer to a quarter of a billion and that is significant economic value. He said farmers did not pay taxes so it was difficult to trace their real contribution.

According to the minister, between Wednesday and Saturday, sales could reach as high as $1 million a day. Rambharat said one of the areas they needed to look at was Namdevco’s relationship with the supermarkets to give private farmers access in this area.

Acting manager at the market Darren Bharmal said the new carpark would be open to farmers only. “There are spaces available but they are not the spaces they want. Everybody wants a space at the front of the market, nobody wants to buy a spot at the back but when the prepaid system comes about it will take care of that.

“A mapping exercise has been done where we mapped vendors and farmers to certain spots so when the point of sale system starts we will not have any issues.” Bharmal said they would be closely monitoring people claiming to be farmers.