A poultry vendor of Rosignol market in West Berbice was in the process of setting up a stall at the new Bath market tarmac on Tuesday when regional officials went with the police to dismantle it.
Arjune Kubeer, 43, of D’ Edward Village told Stabroek News that he had planned to move the stall after selling at the end of the day and was surprised that the officials did not allow him to erect it.
The man who was selling at the Railway Line market at Rosignol daily claimed that he decided to build the stall after Regional Chairman, Harrinarine Baldeo, reminded vendors a few months ago that they would have to remove from that spot.
He said too that he had asked the chairman if it was okay for him to move to the tarmac and he responded verbally in the affirmative.
Contacted, Baldeo told this newspaper that they did not have a problem with the man occupying the tarmac but there are procedures for doing so.
He said Kubeer should have submitted an application and waited for it to be approved before moving there. The chairman also denied ever giving verbal permission.
Kubeer who claimed that the chairman behaved in an unprofessional manner, acknowledged that the tarmac was built to relocate vendors who occupy the Friday market along the roadside at Bath.
He said the officials demanded that he produce his “documents” and he admitted to this newspaper that all he had was a Food Handlers’
Certificate from the Ministry of Health.
He said another reason for wanting to build the stall there was because he was establishing a chicken farm at Bath.
Baldeo also said that Kubeer seemed to be making a permanent stall and pointed out that the tarmac was also built for multipurpose use.
The chairman said too that when they saw Kubeer erecting the stall, Regional Vice-Chairman, Jalaludeen Baksh, ordered him to stop but he refused.
The man also instructed his workers to continue to build. Baldeo told this newspaper that it was at that stage that they sought the intervention of the police.
This newspaper had published an article about the Bath market vendors’refusal to occupy the tarmac. The vendors had claimed that they were “getting more sales at the roadside” and that the “tarmac did not have any facilities.”
Baldeo said they kept reminding those vendors to occupy the tarmac but “they are not responding [probably] because they are not prepared to build collapsible stalls.”
Meanwhile, the region has been trying for several years now to have vendors from the railway line market at Rosignol to relocate to the main market that was constructed close to the Rosignol Stelling but they would only occupy there on Saturdays.
This newspaper had also carried articles about the region’s demolition exercises at the “illegal” railway line market. The police were present during the exercises which saw workers dismantling the stalls and taking the materials away.
However, in a matter of days the stalls were rebuilt and the vendors continued to ply their trade unhindered.
