Bourda Market needs more than cleaning

Dec 03, 2025 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Kaieteur News – Bourda Market is dying. Not slowly. Not quietly. It is dying in full view of the city. The drains are fetid. The smell rises and clings to everything. The filth so fills the drain that people refuse to look at it for fear of vomiting.

A section of the southern perimeter pavement is sinking. Every step on it is risky. The market is hollowing out. Inside is like a ghost town. Buyers have no reason to enter. Why go inside when the outside is already full of goods. Most persons do their shopping from the vendors outside, leaving those inside who pay rent for their stalls, staved of customers.

The toilets are appalling. They are not fit for humans. Not fit for pigs. The situation is urgent. Yet, the government believes that cleaning crews are the solution to the problems of Bourda Market. They are not.

The reason is simple. Cleaning alone cannot save Bourda Market. The problem is not just inside. It is outside too. Outside the market, vendors spill onto the streets around the market. They line every street. They take over roads.

No amount of scrubbing can change that if the roads outside remain clogged and congested with vendors. The market must be cleared outside its proper boundaries. Not all vendors. The Greens Section is different. That section is part of the market proper. It should stay. But everywhere else must be free. Pavements, roadways, corners, and entrances need to be cleared, not just cleaned.

The City Council’s sanitary department should have condemned the area as a public health threat. Yet it has not. The danger is real. People’s lives are at risk.

The market is more than a place to sell goods. It is a heritage site. It is a hub for local commerce. It supports families and small businesses. But heritage means nothing if the market cannot function properly.

The government cannot save Bourda by pouring money into cleaning crews alone. The solution must be permanent. It must be structural. It must be political.

The first step is obvious: remove the vendors outside the market proper. Enforce the lines. Protect the pavements. Keep the roads clear. This is not an attack on vendors. It is about order and fairness. Vendors inside the market cannot compete with those spilling into the streets. Customers gravitate to convenience. A clear perimeter makes the market functional again.

Once the outside is cleared, real cleaning can happen. Drains can be flushed. Pavements repaired. Toilets upgraded. The inside of the market can breathe again. Shoppers will return. Sellers inside will thrive. The Greens Section can flourish. The market can reclaim its place at the heart of Georgetown.

This requires courage. It requires vision. It requires political will. So far, no one has it. The outside vendors continue to spread. The market decays. Every day, Bourda slips further. Half measures will not work.

A different type of operation is. One that starts with the streets. One that respects the boundary of the market. One that ensures that only those meant to be inside are inside. Then, cleaning becomes effective. Then, the market can shine. Then, health risks drop. Then, commerce grows.

Shoppers deserve safety. Vendors deserve fairness. The city deserves a market that works. Bourda can be saved. But only if the rules are clear and the perimeters respected. Cleaning the inside is not enough. The pavements and roads outside must be free. Only then will Bourda Market rise again.

People ask, “What about those who will be affected?” The answer is simple. Those vendors should be relocated. New markets can be established to accommodate them. They can continue their trade without clogging Bourda’s pavements and roads. This is fair and practical. Everyone gets a chance to earn a living, but the historic market is protected.

Bourda Market has no more space for expansion. It has reached its limits. The market cannot grow outward or absorb more vendors. The only solution is to manage the boundaries. Clear the streets, protect the pavements, and respect the market’s capacity. That is how Bourda can survive.

But the challenges facing Bourda Market is not unique. Illegal vending plagues markets across the country. This is a national problem. This is why there needs to be a national approach towards enforcing laws against illegal vending, redesigning market spaces to be more secure and shopper-friendly, and providing legitimate vendors with the support they need. Addressing the problem requires a comprehensive strategy that tackles the root causes of the disorder in and around our markets. The problem is that no political party wants to accept the problem.

(The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of this newspaper.)

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• Peeping Tom

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