Mamusu Sanko, the chairlady of the Freetown Park Market at Waterloo, on Wednesday September 16, 2020 disclosed to Premier News that officials of the traders’ union in Waterloo usually destroy their goods, flog and drive them away from their selling points.
According to Sanko, they haven’t any purposely built structure, with booths or erected stalls in which they could use as market where they could trade, and that has led them to trade on the side of the street.
She said, together with her colleagues, they had met with the Chairman of the Union on several occasions, but had not been able to come up with a solution to the problem. “Whenever we meet with the elders, they always promise to build us market, but at the end we will see nothing as promised. They do not apply any effort for us here at the end they make us run into loss.”
She added that they pay their taxes and monthly contributions to the Union and to the Council, but no help has been rendered to them in return.`
“We risk our lives to trade on the side of the street in order to earn our livings upon all the taxes we pay to the council and the union. If there was a place for market, we should not be trading in the street,” she emphasized.
The Chairlady appealed to the government to help the traders with good market structure, so that they could earn a livings and take care of their children.
Umaru Jalloh, the Vice Chairman of the Park at Waterloo, confirmed that they cane people who trade on the streets. He said they have made it known to traders that selling in the streets is outlawed, and that they should not be trading there, but they had been head strong, which gives cause from time-to-time for them to be flogged and forcefully drive them off the street.
“We drive them off the street as a result of fear of accident which usually occurs here, and also to discourage public gathering in order to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus,” he said.
He also confirmed that the traders have met with the Union to ways of solving the unavailability of a purposely built market structure with booths and stalls, but no structure has been built.
“We are trying to put modalities in place to have a structure for them at the park here,” he claimed.
By Ibrahim S. Bangura
2/10/2020. ISSUE NO: 7922