Vendors, management clash over $100 weekly increase

Sep 08, 2010 News

Vendors at Leonora Market say that management is creating unfair competition by allowing sales on the line-top, outside of the market.

Vendors of the Leonora Market clashed with management over the weekend following a recent decision to raise fees by $100, among other issues.
However, officials of the newly-elected West Demerara Market Leonora Co-operative Market say that the vendors have no authority to direct the operations of the market.
According to an angry Ramautar Ramnauth, who has been selling there for eight years, itinerant vendors who are not considered part of the co-operative were handed notices informing them of a 100 per cent increase in fees. Vendors are currently charged $100 weekly to sell in the market.
“We just cannot afford this at the moment. We are selling in the market while people are being allowed to sell outside on the line-top, unfairly competing with us. We are saying that if they tell the people selling outside the market to come in, we would be in a better position,” said a vocal Ramnauth who clashed with market officials on Saturday.
The problem of the market, which comes under the jurisdiction of the Chief Cooperative Development Officer (CCDO), has been engaging of the Ministry of Labour for quite a number of years, with persons selling outside of the market on the line-top refusing to move inside to the stalls.
This was acknowledged over the weekend by Minister of Labour, Manzoor Nadir, who said that he has been attempting to have the vendors and members of the co-op agree on returning inside.
“I have suggested to them to reorganize themselves and they may then apply for funding to develop a better facility that will be attractive…but there is a lack of cooperation.”
The matter came to a head Saturday with the vendors saying that executives of the co-op are not inclined to meet with them and the conditions at the market are unacceptable.
“How can we work here? We got cows grazing here and dem people coming here and when we say we can’t afford to pay the increase, dey putting balance on the receipt that we owe dem.”
However, the Chairman of the market co-operative, Hemraj Ragnauth, said that the fee increase is a legal decision taken by the general membership at a meeting.
“These people that are complaining are not members. You have to be a financial member to vote. They are vendors and we can raise fees even to $500. It is the members who have decided that we need more money,” the Chairman said.
There was almost a fistfight between the vendors and the officials on Saturday.
There were many empty stalls and cows were grazing between a number of them. “I deh till at de back of de market. How is it fair that we are here and others are selling on the line-top? This is unfair to us. They tekking six years to resolve this problem,” said one vendor who sells meat.
The Leonora market operates once a week, on Saturdays, and has been in existence for over forty years.

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