Stall holders within the Stabroek and Bourda markets say they are certain that thefts are being carried out by vendors operating in the very markets and some are fearful of making reports since they themselves may fall victim to sabotage.
“Is the stallholders themselves doing this thing… they locking themselves in the stands in the night, then come out and do what they got to do,” one stall holder at the Bourda Market told Stabroek News on Wednesday. The woman asked not to have her name published, while many others refused to comment on the issue of security.
According to the woman, members of the City Constabulary at one time used to operate in the market during the nights but this has since stopped. Now, she said, the market is secured and the constabulary would make checks—a system that stallholders are not entirely comfortable with. “These people drilling and welding and all kind of things and nobody is there to hear or see nothing… it’s a really sticky situation. People scared of being targeted so that is why nobody not saying anything,” a source stated.
She explained too that it is very difficult for vendors to transport their money and goods back and forth so they are left with not much of an option but to store them in the stall. “People can’t move around here and there with their money and so because that is more of a risk,” she added.
She begged that a better system be put in place to safeguard vendors’ belongings, since losses are sometimes so great that it is difficult to continue business.
At the Stabroek Market, the woman operating in Sanjaya’s Jewellery stall, refused to speak with this newspaper when approached about the recent robbery the store owner suffered.
Sanjaya’s Jewellery, stall number 38, section three, was reported to have been broken into and robbed sometime between 8pm last week Wednesday and 5am Thursday morning, during a blackout. The owner lost $3.8M and an undisclosed quantity of jewellery in the robbery.
Mayor and City Council (M&CC) spokes-person Royston King said that it is believed that it had been an inside job. “The Mayor asked the police to lead the investigation… there is a suspicion that it might be an inside job… hopefully the investigation will indicate whether this is so but it does appear to be an inside job. The investigations are ongoing,” King stated.
This newspaper was told by sources at the market that the areas that were broken and tampered with had been cleaned, repainted and re-welded by the perpetrators. No one has been held in relation to that robbery.
