Tempers flare at market as CitCo removes street vendors
Progress brings problems … and nobody knows that better than the Belize City Council. This morning in an attempt to lessen confusion and improve the flow of traffic in the area surrounding the Queen Square Market, vendors were relocated from the canal side and instead placed on Hicatee Street, which runs along the south side of the market. The move was met with opposition from both the vendors and the Hicatee Street residents, but before things turned ugly, Councillor in charge of markets, Leila Peyrefitte, made an appearance in an effort to soothe the ruffled feathers … and by noon a temporary agreement had been reached.
Leila Peyrefitte, Councillor, Finance and Markets
?First we used to have people on the canal side that used to sell under tents and I try to accommodate everybody and get the people them to go into the market. But the problem comes along that the wholesalers are parked on Hicatee Street. I moved them from off here to go on Hicatee Street. They are saying that they don?t get any security and that the residents from the area disapprove of them parking because they park in front of their yards.?
?They called me out here to try to see how I can best accommodate them. They wanted to come back out on the street here and I explained to them that I prefer that they don?t come on the streets, so as to ease the flow of traffic and that the customers to the Queen Square market will have parking available. So what we have come to a decision together is that they will park on the canal, but they will park not in front of Queen Square Market, they will park further down.?
?But for right now they are very satisfied with being here on this side of the street, so it?s something that I work strongly with and try to accommodate. Everybody needs to survive, wholesalers and retailers, so I am trying to accommodate every single person, but I cannot satisfy everybody.?
As a stipulation for the move back to the canal side, the wholesalers were asked not to set up tents or tables on the street and to just sell out of their trucks. They are also being asked to stick to wholesaling and not to sell their produce retail. Six of the wholesalers have agreed to meet with Peyrefitte on Friday in an effort to work out a permanent solution.
