Timehri Neighbourhood Market vendors are still at loggerheads with the government’s decision to have them relocated to facilitate the road expansion project and they have pointed to impending danger and serious health violations at the new site.
In April, Minister of Transport and Hydraulics Robeson Benn gave stallholders notices, in which it was indicated that they must relocate to a new tarmac built just behind the current market. But they refused at that time stating that it would be too expensive for them to “just pack up and move.”
The vendors are maintaining that they have no problem with moving their stalls but if the government wants them to move, it must be willing to compensate them, since they were granted permission by the Regional Democratic Council (RDC) to erect permanent structures at the current location.
The market has approximately 30 stalls and almost all are concrete structures equipped with electricity and telephone lines. All of the owners are to start relocating by the end of the month.
The vendors are contending that the newly constructed tarmac is not located in an area where it is sturdy and they foresee it crumbling under the heavy weight of their stalls and the daily movement of persons. This, they added, coupled with rain, will see the tarmac crumbling much faster since the area is not properly drained and cannot accommodate adequate sanitary facilities.
When contacted, yesterday, Minister within the Ministry of Local Government Norman Whittaker told Stabroek News that the vendors are occupying the area illegally, although they have permission from the RDC and the Neighourhood Democratic Council (NDC).
“They are illegally occupying there and we are trying to regularise them and assist them by building the tarmac and covering it with a shed so that they will only have to block around their spots and begin operating,” Whittaker said.
“As far as the matter of them having permission to vend there, I have made it clear to them that they are occupying the government’s reserve and they will have to move and the NDC knows that before they give permission for someone to build, they have to show legal ownership of the land,” he added.
Whittaker said that he does not want to classify the vendors at the site as squatters but in reality that is what they are and he, through his ministry and with the government’s help, is doing everything to have them “legalised.”
‘Dissatisfied’
Drupati Hargobin, who has been selling at the market for over 15 years, said on Thursday that the road would not be hindered by the entire market centre and suggested that only the front stalls would affect the development. “They don’t need to expand this road,” she said, “because all dem big trucks with wood and so does use Soesdyke Highway and is only some vehicles pass to the go to the airport.”
Hargobin also said vendors are concerned about the present location of the newly-constructed tarmac, because whenever it rains the water rushes down the hill and inundates the tarmac, as well as its immediate surroundings. “When that water seeps under the tarmac and we go and put down our stalls on that tarmac it will sink and then we will be at a loss again,” Hargobin stated.
The pensioner added that vending at the market is the only means of supporting herself and if she is required to relocate to an area where it is not healthy and sturdy, it will just add to her financial strain. She explained that her husband is also a pensioner and the stall is the only means of income for the family. If she has to relocate and reconstruct her stall as well, she said, it will just be too much for her to handle alone.
When this newspaper visited the market centre, the stallholder there said that they were not satisfied with the size of the spots to be allocated and accused the government of not heeding their complaints.
The stallholder added that the government’s inability to satisfy their “only” demand, since they are refusing to compensate them, proves that they are not being taken seriously.
Another stallholder, who asked not to be named, told this newspaper that when she spoke to Whittaker regarding the spot allocation, she was told that they would have to accept what they get or find other means of getting what they want.
Another vendor, Mukesh Rajcoomar, said he is prepared to move but the government needs to come up with a compensation package for the vendors, who will suffer as a result of relocating. “We have no problem moving but we have to be compensated because we have permission to vend here and also we want to have our same size of spots on the tarmac because of the size of our business,” he said.
The irate man added that when they met Whittaker, he told them that they will not be compensated and that they cannot have the same sized plots to construct stalls on the new tarmac. “Minister [Whittaker] just come and show we a plan and said we have to go by this and left,” he added, while accusing the minister of imposing his decisions on the vendors without any consultation.
Many of the vendors at the market are single parents, who depend on daily sales as their single source of income. Some see the move to relocate them without compensation as one that may push them deeper into poverty, and as a result they are calling on the relevant authorities to be “considerate” and act with “conscience” when making decisions regarding the lives of the working class.
