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Queen?s Square Market booms, but overspills

FeaturesQueen?s Square Market booms, but overspills


Of course, most people go to the market to get their watermelons, bananas, sweet peppers, onions, plantains, cassava and beans, among other fruits, vegetables, and staples. But it has also grown to become a sort of one-stop-shop for rushing consumers.


Meanwhile, the congestion has become one of the ?side effects? of the market?s growth. There are about 30 stalls inside the new market, and the old market still houses a number of vending stations, including Hyde?s Mini Mart and Mr. Joe?s fruit, shoe and book stalls.


For Mr. Joe, who has been a market vendor for about a year, it?s a tough battle trying to compete with the trucks, some of which belong to Mennonites who also sell on the street sides. He said that it is the same wholesalers who supply them who also set up their stations outside and compete against them, underselling them.


The result, he said, is that, on a day like today, he will have to dump two crates of cassava, valued at over $30. On top of this, he pays a weekly fee of $25 for using the stall.


His solution to his financial challenges was to sell different types of products?apart from fruits, vegetables, beans, and corn. He added textbooks, novels, magazines, and shoes to his shelves as, ?You can?t rely on one product.?


A male vendor inside the new market, which was set up in July/August 2000, said that right now, business is tough, because everybody is bawling ?haad time!? He has been in the business for over four years and sells a wide variety of perishables, including lettuce, cabbage, banana, plantains, carrots, etc. His request is for more space to sell his goods, because, he thinks, the stalls are too small to store produce at night. He also said that the market is too clustered. The old market, he said, wasn?t like that.


He had asked for a neighboring stall to join it with the existing stall, which is still empty; however, vendors can?t readily make changes to their stalls, since the Belize City Council, under whose control the market falls, must approve any alterations, he added.


His rationale for wanting a bigger stall, he said, is to get more products. Having more products, he believes, will make his stall more visible and attract more customers, he said, claiming that things have been slow for the past six months or so.


We asked: Why continue if things are so rough? His answer was that, ?It?s better to take a loss than to give it up.? The youngest vendor we spoke to was Joshua Rivero, 18, the owner of Indira?s Spice Depot (right). At Joshua?s stall inside the new market, you can find about 30 different spices, including black pepper, season all, cumin, and dried garlic and onion. He also sells small packets of ?senna,? a cleansing herb.


According to the young businessman, his father, Vildo Rivero, passed the business over to him about a year ago. He gets his spices imported from India, but has to be careful how he stores them, since rats and roaches tend to visit at nights.


The market was constructed for just about 30 stalls. However, a few vendors, some who also have stalls inside the market, have spilled over to West Collet Canal Street.


A young woman, who works for her aunt, who has a stall near one of the market?s gates, said to us that, ?The market is too small,? and the competition is fierce.


?Tings slow inside. The ?Spanish? sell di tings cheap, cheap, and people di look fi di cheapest ting fi buy. Some ah deh have farm and so deh could sell fi what deh want,? said the young woman, who buys daily from wholesalers, who routinely go to the area to supply them.


She informed that she used to sell at the old market for many years, but had gone away and then returned to work as a market vendor. About a month ago, she began selling on the street side.


Still fearing that their competitors could squeeze them out, the street vendors leave their vehicles parked at the same spot, day and night. The young woman who sells for her aunt said the vehicle is guarded each night.


For a fee of $10 a day?which the vendors said is collected by Max Santos, J.P., for the Belize City Council?they are allowed to sell on the street sides.


They said that no one has complained that their stalls are interfering with the flow of traffic.


From 6:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. today (as on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays) the traffic was diverted away from the marketplace. A Traffic Department official told Amandala that the traffic is barred from using the canal side during those times because this is when most district sellers are on the Streetside. (The district sellers, too, have to pay fees to the Belize City Council.)


When the traffic began to flow on the street again on Tuesday afternoon, it did so slowly and larger vehicles were forced to climb the sidewalks to get by.


Each day large tents can be seen lining the street side. The daily vendors claim that the tents keep them cool and protect their goods from spoilage.


Adrian Arzu said that shoppers traffic the market more than the streets. He also complained of congestion inside the new market and thinks that perhaps it?s time for another new market, where vendors can sell their produce.


While he is making it as a market vendor for now, he would like to sell food, like tamales, patties, boil corn, and juices, but he fears that the streets are too dangerous to roam for business.


Cotton Tree resident, Gloria Perez, said that the daily early morning commute is worth it for her. For the past three months, she has been waking up as early as 4:00 to be ready in time for the 4:30 bus, so that she can meet the wholesalers early in the mornings to replenish her stock. Like the other streetside vendors, she believes business is brighter outside.


?Sell or no sell,? the vendors pay about $60 a week, or about $240 a month to be on the streets six days a week. Those who work half-day Sundays pay an extra $5 to $10 weekly.


This is significantly more than the vendors inside the market pay for renting stalls. The stalls, vendors told us, cost $125 a month, but a deposit of $125 should be paid before the stall is set up.


While many vendors reported that they continually have to throw away goods that don?t sell, Perez said she is willing to consider working out a special deal for buyers who want to buy mature produce that don?t sell at the end of the day. Food vendors, for example, can buy the fully ripened bananas at about 50% of the cost to make banana cake.


All the vendors, including a mobile herb vendor who defied the sign that said, ?no vending on the sidewalk,? recognize that the marketplace is really for everybody. Competition is tight, but the vendors, who depend almost entirely on selling for their livelihoods, are first concerned about their own survival.


Their will to survive has led them to invent new ways of doing things, and new ways?even though uncomfortable for some?to keep with the game.

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