Dear Editor,
Recently an announcement was made by the Georgetown City Council that a decision was made to stop the sale of meat on the city streets, due to the health risks and violations of the public health laws that prohibit the open sale of meat, a practice which is particularly prevalent in the vicinity of Bourda and La Penitence Markets.
And in theory and on the surface this sounds quite logical. However in the Georgetown situation it is not!
In the Markets where the Council would like meat to be exclusively sold, conditions are atrocious. In Bourda the drains in this market always overflow when it rains and the roof also leaks. The gutters smell like a septic tank and it is just not healthy. This market has got a lot of giant rats. These harbingers of disease scuttle in swarms around our markets particularly under cover of darkness, and that is why people prefer to shop in the supermarkets or outside the markets, a much healthier option.
The La Penitence Market is no better, with hardly any running water inside the market, forcing vendors to pay Junkies to fetch in water by the bucket to sanitise the place.
Before making such a rash decision, the Council should have the markets properly cleaned, all the rodents flushed out, proper security put in place for patrons shopping in the markets and install proper lighting.
But what about the persons who sell cooked food on the pavements both by day and by night? And those who cook on spot like the King Fish caravan located at the corners of King and Regent Streets? Should they not all be removed as well?
The myth that foods are more wholesome if they are sold in covered and enclosed places in Guyana can be easily debunked with the example of the butchery near to the Bourda Market that had to be closed for a while by the National Police when it was discovered that meat that was being sold in this enclosed building was not examined or certified by the City’s Public Health Department, was acquired by dubious means, was being delivered to the butchery in the middle of the night under the cover of darkness and the fact that most of it was rotting.
This very City Council that is seeking to deprive these small meat retailers of an honest livelihood, did nothing about this meat shop that is well known for unhygienic and insanitary practices for years. How unfair!
Sincerely,
James Mc Onnell
