By Mandy Thompson
Vendors from Hydronie and Parika yesterday protested against the burning of their pallets that were seized by market officials last Friday and the threat of the demolition of stalls along the Parika Stelling.
About 60 vendors protested in front of market committee member Lyndon Fowler, who is the person in charge for the demolition of stalls and is considered the mastermind behind the exercise. Some of the vendors even sat on Fowler’s bridge for a short while.
Chants of “Fowler must go” and “Fowler is a stooge” echoed as the vendors marched in front of his home at Farm. During the protest, Fowler was heard telling vendors “on Sunday it will be worse.”
The vendors also held placards which read: ‘Fowler is a dictator’, ‘NDC takes all our money daily now they want to starve us’, and ‘Stop using the police force to bully us’ as they protested. Among the protestors were representatives from the People’s Parliament and members of the Alliance for Chang (AFC).
Further protest actions are also scheduled for Sunday as the vendors are adamant that something must be done to solve their problems and allow them to make an honest living. A visit to the Hydronie/Good Hope Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) was futile since the building was closed up. The chairman of the Parika NDC was also absent from office when this newspaper visited yesterday.
Hydronie vendors want to be allowed to sell along the Hydronie market entrance on Sundays only, while those at Parika are asking the authorities to allow them to continue their trade in an area that is conducive to business.
One of the vendors, Valerie Stephens, who has been selling at Hydronie for a number of years, told this newspaper about her ordeal last Friday. She said members of the market committee went to the area where she and other vendors were selling and removed their pallets. “They took our stands… to Bushy Park and burn [them],” she said. A visit to the site at Bushy Park, where the burning took place, proved that pallets were indeed burned there as pallet fragments were still visible.
Stephens also told this newspaper that last Saturday the police and members of the demolition team went to her neighbour’s home, where some of her stuff was stored and removed it. She said, “one of them ordered my little son to bring out the table I sell on from in de yard and I told him he can’t come in and he cursed my son. Saturday dey come in my yard and I had some stuff in the freezer and they take it away to the station.” The items in the freezer included alcoholic beverages which she valued at about $20,000.
Another vendor also complained that he had to throw away about 1,000 cucumbers since he was not allow to sell his items due to the demolishing of stalls.
Political activist Fredrick Kissoon, who was present, said that the People’s Parliament wants to appeal to the political parties to protect the vendors. He described the situation as a violation of human rights which must be stopped.
Hydronie officials removed illegal vending along the market road on Friday last, urging vendors to use the market. But vendors say the market floods at the slightest rainfall and stinks.
Stalls will also be demolished along the Parika Stelling road in the coming weeks since vendors there were served with a final notice to remove. These vendors will be placed at the back of the Parika market where consumers hardly visit.
This move is seen by vendors, who have been selling in the area for a number of years, as a threat to their survival. They also stated that most of them are single parents with more than one child to support and the local government authorities are taking food out of their mouths.
