Should Retail Vendors Unite to Push for More Selling Days?

The Belize City Council says changes to market day rules at the Michael Finnegan Market are possible, but retail vendors will need to formally organise and push for amendments if they want more than one selling day.

Market Manager Delroy Herrera said on Tuesday that the Belize City Council is open to amending regulations that currently restrict retail vendors to Saturdays only. He said any change must go through proper channels.

“Every house has rules, right? And so it’s simple to understand the rule, to work around the rule, or to amend the rule, but we have to do it respectfully, and we have to do it with the constraint of the law,” Herrera told News 5.

The issue came to a head earlier this week when several retail vendors were turned away from the market during an enforcement crackdown on the regulations governing what days wholesalers and retail market vendors are allowed to come out.

Some retail farmers said limiting them to one day a week is cutting directly into their income, while others say they travel hours from their districts since their regular customers come out on Tuesdays and Fridays.

Herrera says the council is willing to listen, but vendors must come to the table together.

“Once we have that done, then from there we can do whatever amendment and so forth that needs to be done to incorporate everybody so that everybody can move harmoniously: the city council, the local farmers, and everything,” he said.

He added, “We have to listen to every single buyer so we can write this proposal and present it, and then we go from there to see if we can get local government to amend it or the Belize City Council to amend what we’re doing.”