Vendors within the New Amsterdam Market are at their wits end with the conditions they are facing as a result of increased fees by the New Amsterdam Mayor and Town Council, harsh and rude treatment meted out to them by staffers and roadside vending by others.
Stabroek News tried for a comment from Mayor Wainwright McIntosh on these matters to no avail.
Earlier this month, frustrated New Amsterdam Market vendors took to the streets in the township to protest against the Mayor and Town Council over a 100% hike in weekly stall and washroom prices.
According to one of the vendors, they were told that the stall fees were moved from $500 to $1000 while washroom fees were moved from $40 to $100 resulting in them protesting in front of the Mayor and Town Council in New Amsterdam. The new fees were implemented from September, 1.
However, this has caused more tension between the council and the vendors who claim that they have been receiving poor treatment since.
One vendor, Bishwanauth Alvin, 60, who has operated in the market for over forty years and presently has six stalls said that “we used to pay $6000 then automatically it raise, they say $1000 but the receipt get $1100 per week for one stall, it’s a lot of money.”
However, the man said that one of the main issues is the cost to use the washroom, “we used to pay $40 to urinate and $60 to defecate but now they want $100, put aside others, it get big people in here, check if five times them go washroom that’s $500 a day and this is the only market that we got to pay fa use toilet.”
He continued, “They raise the rent we supposed to use the market free, you have the names of the vendor, you have the stall owners, wah more you want? For me that is not fair that we got to pay to use the washroom.”
“For me the toilet fee too expensive, the older people than me and the youngers they can’t keep in their pee that bad for your health. Business in this market going backwards, the market going backwards”, he lamented.
According to Alvin, while he knows the mayor personally and checks in with him often, the staffers and councillors do not check in with the vendors.
He said, “The market close this part 4 (pm), you a see them come 3.30 (pm), blam, blam them lock gate and them gone, you can’t say nothing, once them lock gate they gone.”
“We are all human beings, me na go far a school but if you know market a close certain time you go start pack up lil bit before it close and adjust yourself, you na come just lock you gate and gone before 4 pm.”
He said, “Right now some people afraid to say something because is some spite taking out from some people, we are all human being, today I am here, tomorrow I gone, we should respect one another regardless you age or you job. They don’t handle us properly, some people can’t take it, some of them (staffers) if you say morning is a problem for them you got to stay quiet.”
Roadside vending
While the main call from vendors is to remove the roadside vending around the market and have everyone operate inside of the market, vendors believe that this is not likely to be done as they alleged that some staffers are extremely friendly with the roadside vendors who they often receive a little “something” from.
The vendors are pleading with the authority to look into their plight and to manage the situation as they pointed out that due to the roadside vending business within the market itself is at an all-time low.
Savitri Persaud, also known as “Sabo”, 59, who sells vegetables within the market, said that initially she used to pay $40 to bring one pumpkin into the market to sell in addition to her stall fees. However, now she is being charged $60 per pumpkin and “one baigan bag is $200 and every cart man you got to pay sometimes you pay $600, sometimes $800, it very hard, it ain’t easy.”
“Right now them a take $60 from me and still them na get money so me na know what them a do. My landing fee does be $1500 and them raise stall rent $1000 a week, them a over do the thing.”
According to the vendor, officials from the council do not meet with them to listen to their concerns or issues. “The people is punishing here, I does say thank God for what I sell. Right now going to the washroom you got to pay $100 so imagine how much you paying daily, we expense more than we making.”
She added, “They could a charge less, business na like before, some people don’t sell nothing and check we expense, it very hard.”
She believes that their plight is falling on deaf ears and believes that by speaking out she might face worse consequences.
“The road selling and all the supermarket soon we na might have market.”
Meanwhile, another vendor who operates six stalls in the market said that it is extremely hard to continue to operate in the market and while he believes that he might earn more doing roadside vending he knows this would not be fair to others.
Zaheer Khan, 36, has been selling in the New Amsterdam Market for over fifteen years. He said: “they just come down and tell we we have to pay new money, all the load price gone up, everything gone up, they raise all the stand rent, washroom.”
Vex
Another vendor, Asif Mohamed, said that he pays over $8,000 weekly for his stalls and he explained “all the cart man money raise because the cart man got to pay extra money too so we can’t vex with them, this market na send business, people on the road more than inside.”
One vendor said, “Them go move some of them from outside but that is only for one and two day, after one week you see them gone out back because they getting something from them people out there. The money going straight to them so they won’t move them.”
Khan and Mohamed said that shoppers are not making the effort to come into the market due to the roadside vending. At this rate they believe that the New Amsterdam Market will not exist in a few years’ time.
Khan noted, “They have no proper cleaner in this market, if you see one cleaner today, you will see them back till next four days sometimes it take weeks, and if the cleaner them past and you tell them you get something to pick up them say go tell upstairs (council).”
Mohamed said, “If the customers come on the road and get everything them na come in here. Watch that light there got to replace, when people come to see their money we got to give them phone light, last year Christmas them put one light there and they might come back this year Christmas and put one. This is the worst market I see right now, because I travel a lot of market, a lot of places from Skeldon Market, Rose Hall, Port Mourant, and in town, this is the worst.”
Meanwhile, Sherleta Hinds, believes that she is being targeting for speaking out and taking a stand. She said after the protest she and others decided not to pay the increased rent resulting in the council locking her stand.
Eventually the woman decided to pay out the rent to continue selling along with $300 late fee per week for one stall.
However, Hinds, who sells cosmetic and other items, said that after the market staffers discovered that her cousin who came from overseas brought some items to sell which she was storing in her stall they decided to lock her stall once more.
She said when she approached the market clerk she was told that she would have to write a letter informing him of her keeping the items. She did this but was then told that the letter was not what he wanted and that she would have to do it all over.
“I does normally keep her stuff, them lock the stand down when we had the protest, yesterday afternoon a councilor come to me and say let me write the letter for me to put the lady bag in my cupboard. I’m paying rent for my stall, why I need to write a letter for somebody leaving a bag in my cupboard.”
Vendors nearby then chimed in revealing that they too are being harassed by market staffers who speak to them poorly daily.
Hinds continued, “they always at my bone, I don’t know for what, people selling infront, selling fruits and other things and they storing it right in this part here where we selling haberdashery but they not saying anything about that.”
With this behaviour, she said the market will be “dead” and “shut down” because “people will walk away from the market.”
“These constables now don’t know to talk to people, especially the young ones, they don’t know to speak to people, even the market clerk and they don’t know to speak to we.”
All of the market vendors maintain that the council do not meet with them to discuss issues they are facing and pointed out that due to the situation some vendors have opted to stop selling resulting in stalls being closed.
