City Council move market vendors
There was more commotion near the Queen Square Market where fruit and vegetable vendors line the banks of the canal to sell their produce. The problem is that the vendors, primarily the wholesalers, say the Belize City Council is too heavy-handed in holding them to an existing agreement over the hours and days they can operate in the location. But the Council says it’s just a matter of the vendors adhering to the agreement in order to ease the traffic congestion along the canal. Marion Ali was present for the sights and sounds, including the moment Councillor Roger Espejo, who is not responsible for markets, showed up to talk to the vendors.
Marion Ali, Reporting
We arrived in time to observe this wholesaler, Nestor Cerritos, receiving a twenty-five-dollar ticket for violating the City Council stipulation. For him, the economy has become so slow that the five-hour period allotted in which to do business is simply not enough.
Nestor Cerritos, Fruit Vendor
“I understand that they want we move but they suppose to give we wah lee chance because from five till ten when business slow, things noh di go on right now soh yoh have to hustle.”
Hilda Silva, Vendor
“We used to sell five days a week—Monday Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday. That dah the normally time we use to sell. Dah noh from only now. And they put the sign and that for only three days and plus they put the time; from five to ten.”
Marion Ali
“So you are limited now to three days and five hours?”
hilda silva
Hilda Silva
“Yes, they limited we to three day and the time by the day, only five hours.”
Marion Ali
“And that’s not enough you say?”
Hilda Silva
“That’s not enough Miss because we bring lotta load.”
But the Council’s Supervisor of Special Constables, Selbert Butler, told News Five that until some other solution is reached, he will have his department uphold the law.
Selbert Butler, Supervisor, Special Constables
selbert butler
“There’s specific locations that are designed for wholesalers and retailers. For wholesalers, the time is gazette. There is a sign that says they are suppose to be here from five to about ten-thirty, a half an hour grace period. We were here until about eight-thirty last night because most of the wholesalers came in at around four last night and we told them that they cannot be here because of noise pollution and other stuff. Because what happens, they come around ten eleven twelve in the night setting up tent and making a lot of noise and then it affects the residents. And so on that we are trying to reach a win-win situation that everyone benefits. So we say from Dean Street to Hicatee Street is for retailers and you will be able to sell there from six in the morning until six in the evening. From Dean Street to Raccoon Street is for wholesalers and the market days are Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.”
The vendors became vociferous when Councilor Roger Espejo showed up to discuss the matter with them.
{Vendors expressing their concerns…}
They were so angry that they stood their ground in the middle of the street and prevented the flow of traffic to protest their plight. But that protest was short-lived and they soon dispersed. Following the brouhaha Councilor Espejo outlined what will be done to remedy the situation.
roger espejo
Roger Espejo, City Councilor
“This was a recent discussion at City Council last week. The fact that they got a sudden notice, I have to ask administratively, our administration, what transpired and how much notice was given. I haven’t seen anything in writing so I really can’t speak.”
Marion Ali
“But if the council met last week then the councilors should know what the discussion was about, what the agreement was about that the council would have given the notice and why only to a certain group.”
Roger Espejo
“The discussion was simple. You see we, the council, act from a policy point of view—we set the policy. So the discussion was very simple. You seem, the residents here are complaining about all the nuisance, the filth that you can probably see in the river that is here. We just set a time frame for people to operate here along the banks of the canal. After that everyone has to move. From a logical stand point, it doesn’t matter if you are a wholesaler or a retailer. The fact is that if you have a tent here and you are using too much space you are then creating congestion on the road. You can see how narrow the road—a bus barely made it through just now, people are walking along the side—it creates more of a nuisance so we set a time frame for them to operate out here and we want them to respect that.”
Marion Ali
“They’re asking for an extension on the time—from ten o’clock to eleven or eleven-thirty.”
Roger Espejo
“We have to look into that. That decision can only be made by the entire council.”
Nestor Cerritos
“Yeah, I agree with that but I tell them to at least mek they give we til half day, yoh know, but they noh di try to help we. They just want we move.”
Marion Ali
“So where are you going now?”
Nestor Cerritos
“I noh know. I live dah Valley of Peace but I can’t carry deh water melons back because I need fi mek mi money, if not deh wah spoil and I wah lose.”
Roger Espejo says the City Council will meet again shortly to come up with a plan to address the problem. Marion Ali for News Five.
I think it is ridiculous to remove those vendors on short notice and I do not care if they are a nuisance to the residents living nearby.
These people should have been given a notice in advance to prepare themselves for the move and time, again this shows how ignorance flows like water in Belize from the leaders.
Dean street is a crime infested area of Belize too, when those people moved on to those infested streets, you won’t ever see the face of roger espejo over there, it’s too dangerous you see.
There has been one story after another about the Vendors & the City Council & nothing ever gets resolved. The market has been there as long as or longer than most of the residents have & they need to stop whining. Maybe the City Council does not understand that farmers plant their crops based on market projections & they should have phased in the changes over a set time frame that most could swallow even if they didn’t agree. The tickets aren’t helping.
The City Council has raised the rates, limited the spaces & I believe someone sold the property to one of the Arabs or Indians.
We all have to eat to survive, many of our small farms are no longer in business because other groups were better organized & controlled the market. The result; for one pound of potato, Belizeans pay almost as much as I pay for 10 lbs on sale. Chicken is overpriced & turkey is a treat. When you force the small vendors out of business, that adds to the unemployment & underemployment & when the nice man who owns the place accommodates you with a sterile American style supermarket, he sets the prices, he can dictate how much the farmers earn & what you pay. Going to market is a part of our culture. How much more are you willing to give up in the name of progress?
It would be very easy to call the city council a bunch short sited knuckleheads. Name calling won’t do much good.
Howabout the City Council get busy and find a sufficient piece of land for the market. The farmers need a place to wholesale, the retail marketeers need the same.
While the Council is at it, let us not repeat the mistakes made in the replacement of the old market by the swing bridge. The old market was a land-mark, accessible to many vendors and rapidly was becoming a tourist attraction. What did we get for our tax money?
A replacement multi-story building that is swelteringly hot and offers less space. Been a while since I’ve been in Belize City, so not sure this is still even a market.
To the Council and to Mr. Butler of the Special Constables, instead of hasseling the vendors, how about you get busy and find a solution to the problem: lack of space.
Lest you think I’m not familiar with the problem, we used to wholesale our fruit/farm products in Belize City. It became easier to wholesale through another gentleman. A little less profit for us, but a lot less headaches.
Probably for the best. It would be very hard to resist inserting a ticket from an Special Constable in his nether orifice and then grab him by an ear and drag the poor man (who is only doing his job) off to the Prime Minister’s office to file a complaint.
Truly, this shouldn’t be such a difficult problem to resolve. Get on with it.
John
Another sign the belize government(pup or udp,same mafia in power)dont care about poor belizeans.the governement dont create jobs for belizeans.and dont even let them earn their daily bread. by selling thier goods.
Prime example of what these ‘leaders’ think of hardworking Belizeans. This is sick beyond words; these are Belizeans folks, this is how our ‘leaders’ look at us; just animals to be shuffled around at will, without any care in the world.
Roger Espejo is just a ph….. pompous little p….; coming out there looking like he made sure to dress flashy for the camera; what a goddamn prick. Don’t worry all you ….holes gonna get your day when these people start pushing back…only a matter of time now…in fact it has already started but the momentum is not there yet; all your thousand dollar suites and 250K suv and McMansions will not save your political …..
The PUP City Council SOLD the property to the Novelo group who the bank took it away from and then sold it to the Hindu businessman indeed. That’s why there is limited space now.
Belizeans have to respect laws and they seem to have to learn that the hard way. The City Council is only enforcing a law that ALREADY exists! Its about time we start enforcing our laws. Kudos to the Counsellor Espejo & City Council – keep enforcing the law – it on’t be easy.
The Government can take any of our property through eminent domain, they can reclaim this space if it was important enough to them.
Are you ………ing kidding me,this is the same b……..it over and over ,enforcing the law!!!!!!!!!!!what!!!!!!.they should be enforcing laws where needed ,these farmers provide produce affordable enough even for the poor people of belize .and they work really hard to make sure they get their produce to the market.the councelers couldn’t care less .take my advise ,let’s not be part of the problem but find a asolution.all the givernment is hoping for is to sell the land to some rich mother……….and have these rich mother……….build supermarkets and dictate prices.but then again it is all bureaucracy .
I think what “John” had to say is like rite on the money.
“How about the City Council get busy and find a sufficient piece of land for the market. The farmers need a place to wholesale, the retail marketeers need the same.
While the Council is at it, let us not repeat the mistakes made in the replacement of the old market by the swing bridge. The old market was a land-mark, accessible to many vendors and rapidly was becoming a tourist attraction”.
If the idea is to control traffic and noise conditions then how about setting up a “couple of areas” dedicated to the small/home based farmers markits as an option and then everybody wins. Fore example maybe and area for vendors of non eating food type places and maybe an area for fruit, vegitable, meats etc.
This would limit the traffic pile up, increase money for public transpotation, easier for police to control and enforse law. Our leaders need to make it happen so WE can see our tax money working
While working on ships I saw this work in many other country, why can it not work here