Months of squabbling with the Region Three council and the government over where they should be selling led Parika roadside vendors to the city to picket Freedom House, the HQ of the PPP.
A group numbering fourteen descended on Freedom House, Robb Street yesterday around 10 am with placards in hand and tags labelled “peaceful picket”. The vendors paced up and down the road opposite the building in hopes of drawing the attention of persons inside.
The vendors also approached former Minister of Local Government, Clinton Collymore as he was entering Freedom House and asked him to look into the situation. According to one vendor, Collymore said that the matter is out of his hands.
Bejai Nebar, spokesperson for the group told Stabroek News that “for too long we have had to fight for our daily bread and our families are now being impacted”. He said they were granted permission to sell on the parapets provided that they operate from mobile stalls. They have since complied but the falling out with the regional office continues. Some of the placards they carried read “VAT is killing us, we have to sell to survive”, “Our children have to eat” and “We need to sell”.
Nebar said they agree that certain rules must be in place but are against such rules being to the detriment of hardworking people. He said they turn out early in the mornings to earn a living and they sometimes go late into the nights yet they are being forced out of that living.
“I ain’t know what they want me to do, I have children to mind and they suffering”, a female vendor said. She said they have had numerous discussions with the relevant authorities but somehow a favourable agreement has not been arrived at. According to her, they intend to picket for as long as it takes.
The vendor said they are being pressed to sell inside the market at a location that is not conducive for sales. One man described the spot as “an area behind so many rum shops no one will go there”. He said the parapet has been the best place to do business.
After picketing outside Freedom House for about an hour the vendors were told that someone inside would meet with them. They dispersed after the meeting but vowed to return if the situation continues.
In 2006 the issue of relocation for the vendors surfaced and several clashes followed. The vendors staged a picket at the Guyana International Conference Centre, Liliendaal calling for a change in their Neighbourhood Democratic Council. Then, their stalls were dismantled by the regional authorities on several occasions prior to the picket because they refused to relocate to inside the market.
Much earlier in 2006 the Parika market vendors had previous issues with the regional administration and those closer to the stelling were asked to move in May. When they did not heed the notice their stalls were destroyed by the council. Vendors were originally asked to move to a site allocated to them at the side of the stelling.
When they cried out against it, a $57M market was set up at Hydronie to accommodate them. Many vendors, a number of them farmers who came to sell their produce on Sundays and Thursdays at Parika, were very unhappy about the second site, saying that it was too far away from the stelling. (Iana Seales)
