Dear Editor,
The Region 2 Administration cannot be exonerated from shirking its responsibility to enforce the law in relation to unscrupulous vendors by giving short weight, especially in the meat section of the markets in the district. But while such a situation is bad for purchasers, it is worse still to have full-time employees in Anna Regina who are supposed to look into scales, weights, measurements, etc, and are not making regular visits to the markets to curb such practices. Until such time as errant vendors are prosecuted and placed before the court, the cheating will continue.
Just a few days at the Suddie market in my home village, I enquired from a vendor who sells pork, chicken, and chicken foot the price for the latter, to which she replied $300 per pound.
After placing an order for two pounds, two sealed parcels were handed to me with an explanation from the vendor that each contained one pound. From my own experience, the weight struck me to be less than it should be, and when a reweighing was done in her presence on the scale of a nearby businessman, the two parcels were found to have only 1½ pounds, and my interest in the purchase completely vanished.
The matter was reported at the Suddie Police station and the vendor questioned. By withholding 25 pounds on every 100 pounds of weight she would have been making an additional profit of $7,500. It is very unfair to pay the price asked for and in the end get short weight.
Defective scales are in frequent use at these markets with no one in authority seeming to care. Up to this day some vendors are selling 400 grams as the equivalent of a pound when in fact it should be 450 (453) grams.
Yours faithfully,
Baliram Persaud
