With city authorities ordering that Georgetown’s markets be shut by 7pm yesterday and restricting vending to only a few hours on Fridays, hundreds of persons rushed the markets yesterday to purchase groceries, fruits and vegetables.
This led to traffic congestion across the city’s central business district.
The measures are part of the response to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which has claimed tens of thousands of lives worldwide, including four in Guyana.
The Georgetown Mayor and City Council announced that from 7pm yesterday, all markets would be closed until further notice. However, it appeared that the announcement was subsequently overruled last evening by emergency lockdown measures announced by Minister of Public Health Volda Lawrence, who said that markets can open between 6am and 5pm daily.
The council, in a notice, stated, “Farmers, Wholesalers/Retailers will be permitted to ply their trade at the Stabroek and Bourda Markets on Fridays only from 07:00 hours to 13:00 hours…”
It also stated that at the Stabroek Market, vending will take place west of the Guyana Fire Service Building and at Bourda Market, on the Merriman Mall between Orange Walk and Light Street.
“This will be conducted under strict guidelines for the practice of social distancing,” the notice said, while indicating that no street market activities will occur on Sundays at the Albouystown Market.
Under the order, no vending will be allowed on the streets or in the markets.
“This includes Road Selling/Street Vending (including Wholesalers/Retailers/Farmers/Night Sellers, Snackette/Cook Shop Operators and all other category of Food Sellers and Street Vendors) as authorised under Sections 3(1) and 302 (31) (d) of the Municipal and District Councils Act, Chapter 28:01,” the notice said.
The decision by the council was heavily criticised by many citizens on social media and some persons suggested that the council could have implemented a better policy to deal with the disease.
Suggestions included a schedule of rotation for the number of vendors selling at any one time and the closure of roads to allow vendors to have more space between them to sell their produce, among others.
Compromise
Contacted prior to Lawrence’s announcement, Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine told Stabroek News that the markets would reopen in a matter of days. He said that the markets were closed to facilitate the installation of sanitation and washing facilities for vendors and members of the public.
The mayor said that closing the markets was necessary since there were no facilities in place to help stop the spread of COVID-19.
“I close the markets because we don’t have facilities in place. I cannot compromise the health of citizens by allowing over 200 people to be in one place at a time. So we had to close the markets,” said Narine.
He explained further that through his office, he requested help from the Ministry of Communities for the donation of sinks and other sanitising equipment to be installed at the markets.
“I have said we are going to close the markets until further notice because I wasn’t sure when the Minister of Communities [Ronald Bulkan] and the Permanent Secretary [Emil] McGarrell would have responded to our request, but seeing we have the sinks now, we will work to reopen the markets soon,” Ubraj asserted.
“We have received the sinks from the Ministry of Communities and as soon as we have those installed we will work to reopen the markets,” he said.
The mayor indicated that the reopening of the markets will come with strict measures. He explained that not all of the entrances to the markets will be opened and they will monitor the number of persons inside at any one time. He noted, too, that they are considering other measures to ensure persons will be able to practice social distancing and reduce the amount of time spent at the markets.
Meanwhile, President of the Market Vendors Union, Eon Andrews, yesterday said while they had anticipated a closure of the markets, he believes that the union should have been consulted.
“I would have like to think we have a good relationship with the Mayor and City Council but it does not seem that way. We were not consulted on this measure. We were not aware of this,” Andrews said.
He related that the union would have liked to have seen a better approach to the closure of the market since the vendors depend on their trade for the daily survival of themselves and families.
“We could have provided a comprehensive plan for all the vendors to benefit from but the Mayor and City Council did not ask for any suggestion and now the vendors have to suffer,” Andrews added.
Last night just after 7, Stabroek News was told that city constabulary officers were walking around the markets reminding persons of the measure implemented. A few vendors remained on the road after 7pm; some were packing up even as others were still trying to get a final sale.
