Vendors unhappy with new market

“Progress
brings problems” is a slogan used by government long ago to describe the
teething pains young countries often go through in the process of development.
A typical application of the slogan’s intent occurred this morning at
a southside shopping area attempting to make the transition from old to
new.

Jacqueline Woods, Reporting
On July twenty-first, the Belize City Council officially opened the new
Queen’s Square Market on West Collet Canal. While it was expected that
last week the vendors would have spent their time relocating, today, the
police had to be called out to the old market as some vendors including
wholesalers refused to move.

Julian Chell, Wholesaler
“The problem from a long time ago is that we need a market for the
wholesalers, for the people that produce vegetables. We have seven vehicles
that import vegetables and because there is a friction between wholesalers
and retailers in the market, they want impose that we will take let’s
say seven trucks, go into the market from five until ten o’clock, pay
a fee of twenty-five dollars and no retailing on the market.”

The vendors say, the new market is not complete and they simply cannot
set up shop as yet.

Ellis Humes, Vendor
“When it rains all the water from the top of the building come right
over the stalls and wet up the vegetables. The vegetables will spoil if
they get wet. The place doesn’t even have a bathroom and the prices for
the places are ridiculous. One of the stalls cost one hundred and twenty-five
dollars and doesn’t even have an outlet to plug in a fan if it’s hot.
The things will spoil up in the place.”

When we contacted market manager Tony Soberanis, he said that it’s
only the vendors from the Valley of Peace who refuse to move. Soberanis
says the vendors were warned a month ago about the transfer and they received
an additional warning a week ago that effective August first, they would
have to move to the new market site. According to Soberanis the big wholesalers
are charged twenty-five dollars a day, while the smaller ones pay five
dollars. The vendors who occupy stalls at the new market will pay one
hundred and twenty-five dollars a month. Soberanis says there are also
plans to expand the new market.