Mon Repos Market closed for “cleaning only” not repairs – Communities Ministry

mon Repos Market vendors are complaining that one week after the facility was shut down to facilitate repairs, there were no visible signs of any restoration done.

However, Guyana Times was informed by the Communities Ministry that the Market was closed only to facilitate cleaning and sanitation of the premises and not repairs.

It was reported that the Mon Repos Market was shut down for one week to allow repairs to be done and merchants were asked to remove themselves from the retail section. While some persons relocated across the Market, independently, to continue their vending, others waited for the restoration to be completed.

However, when this publication visited the Mon Repos Market on Wednesday last, to view the repairs done, there was no discernible improvement. According to vendors, upon resuming their vending on Saturday, the employees of the Market Office were unable to answer questions that were posed to them as to why there was no significant change within the Market after so many days.

Numerous vendors voiced that losses were incurred during the one week that they were not allowed to vend in their normal area. They highlighted that they were awaiting a response about the Market being shut down for ‘’insignificant reasons.’’

‘’Look, you see anything in this market change? Is the same shabby conditions. Why they shut down the market last week? I suffer a huge loss last week ,man. Over the road barely gat space for couple people so the rest ah we had to sit and wait. You know how much customers I lose already because of this? Them locking down the market for some real stupid, stupid and insignificant reasons,’’ one angry merchant said.

Another vendor said that after persons began questioning the actual reason for the Market being inactive for a week, the supervisor of the Market Office highlighted to them that they were given that time to sanitise and mend within their stalls. The merchant indicated that this was ‘’news’’ to them, since no one had so informed

them.

‘’So after we start asking the supervisor why the Market shut down if they didn’t intend to do anything to it, she turn and said that the Market was shut down, so we could go in and clean and repair we stalls. This was news to all ah we ‘cause they never told us that. They said that we got to remove from the Market for a week cause they got to do repairs. And is not me alone hear that, is majority ah the Market.’’

Meanwhile, when this publication met with an employee of the Mon Repos Market Office, she indicated that she was not allowed to speak to the media and refused to give any comment on the matter. The supervisor of this office is said to be on ‘’medical’’ leave.

On Monday, it was highlighted by the Assistant of Minister of Communities, Raphael Hazel who spoke on behalf of the Minister, Ronald Bulkan, that according to the Works Committee Chairman of the Mon Repos Neighbourhood Democratic Council, Raghoo, the market was shut down to only facilitate cleaning.

Hazel said that Raghoo relayed that no repairs were intended to be done at the Market during that time. He added that complaints were made by Raghoo that some vendors who had relocated across the road, refused to comply; hence, parts of the drains were not cleaned.

“I spoke to the Works Committee Chairman of the NDC, Raghoo, and he said that it was a project undertaken by them from the 8th May to the 13th and it was just to clean the market. His exact words were “it was stink”. So they basically asked the vendors to be away from that Sunday to Friday just to clean it, wash it out and so,” the Business Minister’s Assistant said.