Bourda Market stallholders disappointed with Town Clerk’s proposal

Coming out of a meeting on Thursday, Bourda Market stallholders who protested City Hall on Wednesday calling for wholesale vendors plying their trade outside the Market to be removed are now voicing their dissatisfaction with the proposal put forward to them by Town Clerk Royston King.
According to the vendors, following their protest action, a meeting was held with the Town Clerk and the Market Clerk, who proposed that the vendors outside the Market be given three hours each daily to ply their trade.
The proposal by the vendors for wholesale vendors to sell from 17:00h to 07:00h each day was shut down.
Vendor Omawattie Ramsawack revealed to Guyana Times that after the meeting was called, the vendors who attended explained the situation before them and made their proposal.

However, after listening to the suggestions, Town Clerk King reportedly announced his decision and the meeting was adjourned.
“He only listen to we and then he tell we what he decided to do and then he end the meeting. But nothing ain’t change, is same struggle because since then is the same thing happening, we ain’t getting any sales,” Ramsawack explained.
As such, the wholesale vendors continued to ply their trade as per normal and the stallholders inside the market were still complaining of their livelihood being taken from them.
This publication reported on Thursday that the stallholders marched, protesting outside City Hall calling for an intervention by the Town Clerk and the Mayor.
According to them, some are forced to throw away their goods on a daily basis as a result of the lack of sales.
This situation the stallholders blame on the vendors who ply their trade outside the Market, offering their goods at a cheaper cost. As such, the vendors who occupy stalls within Bourda Market are not getting many sales.
The street vendors are reportedly only allowed to ply their trade within a fixed period, which stallholders contend they are not adhering to.
As a result, the vendors are complaining of paying for stalls inside which are not benefiting them.
One vendor, Rampaul Singh revealed that he has been paying the City Hall a large sum of money each month, alleging that stallholders are threatened if they fail to pay.
“I have been paying the Council x amount of money per month. If you do not pay within a certain time, they are threatening you to close you down. How can you make money when they have that large amount of people selling all day on Robb Street? People cannot even traverse that road with their cars to come and buy from us because they can’t reach. I have a truck that I have to use to bring goods to my stall and I cannot even pass in. Why are they having all these people here and even before the time that they should be here,” Singh decried.
The stallholders are renewing their calls and are now pleading with the Town Clerk and Mayor to revise the decision.