Market Manager Defends Enforcement at Michael Finnegan Market

A dispute over who gets to sell, and when, is putting pressure on vendors at the Michael Finnegan Market. Last week, retail vendors told us they’re being squeezed out after city council officers restricted them to Saturdays only. But today, Market Manager Delroy Herrera is pushing back, saying the rules aren’t new. According to Herrera, the law is clear: Saturdays are set aside for retail vendors, while Tuesdays and Fridays are reserved for wholesalers. The situation now brings a deeper question into focus, are the rules being enforced fairly, or are small vendors being pushed aside?

 

Delroy Herrera, Market Manager, Belize City Council

“I think to get a full understanding of what is going on is that the retailers would come on the wholesale day, Tuesdays and Fridays, and then they would then tell the wholesalers, you cannot sell for $1 a pound or fifty cents a pound because you are underselling me, whatever the case may be. And in that capacity, the retailers are on the wrong day. The retail day is designated for Saturdays. So on Saturdays, you buy from the wholesalers; however you get your product. You go out on a Saturday, and then you can make your markup on whatever the case may be. So retailers coming in on a Tuesday and Friday, telling the wholesalers they cannot sell for wholesale price in whatever quantity they’re selling, is not under the jurisdiction to tell them what to do and what not to do. So they should come on their day, and that’s why we have, based on the amount of complaints that we had with the wholesalers, who are saying that they’re having friction and so forth with the retailers, because they want to designate their prices and stuff, we have decided okay let’s look into it and go back to what we had in law, the Tuesdays and Fridays for the wholesale day, and then the retailers come up on Saturdays. So presently what I can say is that enforcement is looking at the situation and so forth. The laws are there. I believe that the wholesalers will be protected tomorrow. And moving forward, the retailers as well will be protected on Saturdays and stuff, because we do have videos and so forth, that we have the wholesalers who go in on Saturdays and sell on the retail days and visa versa.”

 

We will continue following developments surrounding the dispute at the Michael Finnegan Market.

 

Attention readers: This online newscast is a direct transcript of our evening television broadcast. When speakers use Kriol, we have carefully rendered their words using a standard spelling system.

 

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