Mayor Regrello hits vendors peition: 'Prevention before profit'

San Fernando Mayor, Junia Regrello is calling on market vendors of the southern city to put prevention before profit. Regrello outlined his position just as the vendors themselves have drafted a petition requesting him to allow them to keep their goods overnight at their stalls and for better communication.

They are hoping to get many of the 100-plus vendors at the Mucurapo Street market to sign off on the document. But Mayor Regrello remained firm that the position with the vendors will not be changed. The decision not to allow vendors to keep goods overnight came from the public health department of the San Fernando City Corporation (SFCC).

The staff, Regrello said, are following guidelines from the Health Ministry which include measures to contain the covid19 pandemic. Regrello told Newsday: "Rodents and cockroaches roam the market overnight. The market is not enclosed like supermarkets, so it is very difficult to control that. They leave faeces, they eat the edible and run over vegetables."

The decision was part of measures to prevent the spread of the coronavirus. "The by-laws say clearly if they leave goods overnight, they do so at their own risks. Also, there is pilferage by people, so we have to have security, watchmen. That is a burden on us. How do we clean the market properly when we have goods on stalls?"

Last week Wednesday, as the SFCC embarked upon a clean-up and sanitation exercise, and removed 14 truckloads of garbage from the market. "The market has peak days. People do not traverse the market as years gone by. There must be some adjustments. We have to put health first before profit."

The major said he "feels for them" and understands their plight. "I understand that it is costly. What they have to do is bring enough goods to sell for the day. It is an unhealthy scenario but is an upward scenario for all of us. We are being mandated by public health guidelines."

In the market on Tuesday, about 30 vendors complained that it is costly to pay for transporting the goods to and from the market. Mango vendor Emerson "Money," Passee said he has been selling in the market for the past 40 years.

"We respect the virus, anything they (officials) say to do we are doing. But do not use the virus to take advantage of us. Some vendors do not have a boxcart far more for a car. They do want us to eat or drink anything in the market, Passee said." He accused the corporation of "using the virus to frustrate" them. "It is a mad scene for us to be carrying home our goods every time."

If the mayor and the corporation do not change the measure, Passee vowed that vendors would go to the Town Hall "and anywhere necessary."

"We will take a lawyer. If people coming in to pack out and at the same time people are coming in to buy, stalls must be set up before the market opens so that the goods are already on display. Every day we have to rush to set out."

Another vendor, Visham Mahabir, complained that it was "near impossible" for vendors to do daily. He is proposing that the SFCC remove goods monthly "with proper notice" to facilitate proper sanitation of the entire market.

"For about four years the market was not cleaned properly."

He too complained about rats.