Dear Editor,
The vendors of Region Three are now experiencing a taste of the fate suffered by the Stabroek Market vendors recently. On Saturday 24, a number of female vendors, some of them single parents, had their goods seized by Parika Market officials. The women claimed that police constable # 19614 accompanied the market’s security personnel and acted in support of their operation. Below are the facts:
1. All the goods seized are perishables.
2. Market committee chairman Milton Dookie was not available and will not be available until after his niece’s wedding which could go on for days.
3. By that time all of the seized goods would have rotted resulting in great loss to the vendors whose only source of income is derived from the purchase and resale of fruit, green vegetables and bakery products.
4. The area in which these women are expected to operate, is out of the way of the travelling public and is in an insanitary condition. Incom-plete stalls are used both day and night as toilets, garbage dumps, smoking joints and resting places for vagrants. This has conveniently eluded the attention of the market officials and security personnel.
5. Interestingly, one very special lady whose stall was smack in the middle of two others which were affected by the market operation was not touched, and continued to operate as usual long after the other women had given up all hope of getting back their goods.
6. A number of similarly special individuals who were initially allocated stalls at the back like the affected women, were later given prime space in front of the marketing centre and are enjoying brisk business as they trade in similar items as those seized from their fellow vendors.
Mr. Editor, while it is OK to want and to work towards achieving unencumbered roadways and parking areas, it is equally important to ensure that it is not to the economic detriment of our citizens. Women who have to singlehandedly work to maintain their children and other dependants are already vulnerable members of our society. To remove from within their reach opportunities for earning in this regard is to place them at greater risk and to render their minor dependants possible school drop outs and child labourers and vulnerable to all sorts of abuse. It will amount to robbing these young citizens of their God-given right to a bright future for themselves and their future families.
Adequate conditions must be created for women in this society to enable them to make maximum use of their will to survive. Their struggle for self empowerment must be supported and their efforts encouraged by those in authority. This could only be achieved through the creation of the requisite enabling economic environment, an issue which thus far, the administration has failed to address. It is universally known that jobs are difficult to come by in our dear land, therefore entrepreneurial endeavours large or small should be commended and supported. The regularising of vending activities which are considered to be in breach of local government by-laws should be done to the mutual benefit of the parties concerned, not to the glory of the authorities and the detriment of the vendors and their families.
Yours faithfully,
Mervyn Williams, MP
Region Three,
Essequibo Islands, West
Demerara