Parika Marketing Centre vendors complain of poor sales…due to “illegal vending” on roadway

Business in the Parika Marketing Centre, East Bank Essequibo (EBE) is being adversely affected with vendors who operate there suffering tremendously as customers are opting to shop from stalls located alongside the main public road.

INews was told by one major stallholder in the Marketing Centre that while he believes in competition, this practice by the relevant authorities to allow those vendors to sell in their stalls on the roadway is ‘unacceptable’.

According to him, many of the vendors inside of the Parika Marketing Centre used to have stalls on the public road but were removed from there and placed inside of the market where they continue to pay rental fees.

However, presently the persons who have erected stalls outside of the Centre are not paying any fees for the space and seem to be allowed to freely operate there while causing traffic congestion as well, he said.

“”You see, people who used to come inside the Marketing Centre to buy things are hardly coming now because they are buying from the people outside and this is not fair to us. We are paying rental fees, they pay nothing, we aren’t getting the business anymore, they are getting it and we used to be out there but were removed to come inside the Marketing Centre. This isn’t right and the authorities here not doing anything, I hear they say after local government elections they will look into it, but all the while we losing money,” the stallholder told INews.

The affected vendors are calling on the authorities responsible to ensure that action is taken to remedy the situation soon.

Already, with the economy in the region suffering ‘massive blows’ this situation further adds to the burden which persons living in that area have to bear, he added.