By: Nicholas Bass
Petty traders in Bakoteh market have lamented over the sorry state they face while calling on the government to give a facelift to the market.
Speaking to The Voice in an exclusive interview on Wednesday, the Chairperson of petty traders at Bakoteh Market, Ma Nyima Gaye nicknamed Maga diamond discloses that they face difficult situation whenever it rains. She says some of the women who sell beside the road sit on water while doing their petty trading. “Selling under the rain is the worst situation we are facing here,” she cried saying the bags of cabbage she bought were spoiled.’’
Mrs. Gaye explains that one bag of cabbage from Senegal is sold at D5000, adding that the cost of cabbage increases due to depreciation of the Dalasis currency against the CFA Franc
She states that the place where women usually sit down to sell during the rainy season is infested with worms and stagnant water beside Bakoteh market. She disclosed that Mayor Talib Ahmed Bensouda of KMC promised to fix the problem which she said got worsened day by day.
“We usually placed our baskets on the stagnant water to avoid sitting on the worms during the rainy season but no one prays to remain in the petty trade along the road,’’ she lamented.
Madam Gaye went further to say that most of the time they lost their clients due to the presence of worms in the area as most of their clients thought they are not clean because they sell in dirty stagnant water.
Going further Mrs. Gaye alleged that anytime the petty traders were arrested by the police, they usually pay a non-compliant fee of D5000 for each basket.
She pleaded with President Barrow’s administration to address their problems.
Also speaking to this medium, the Vice Chairperson of petty traders of Bakoteh Market, Kaddy Gibba states that lack of space in the market compelled the petty traders to sell beside the road which she described as a nightmare for petty traders.
‘’Suffering and lack of a place to sit down and sell our goods is what we are facing here, for the fish market cannot contain us,’’ she said.
Mrs. Gibba disclosed that petty traders continued to suffer, facing inconveniences from the police, alleging that petty traders keep going to and from the police paying fees of no compliance.
She called on the government to regulate the Dalasis and also relocate the petty traders to another place where they will do their business without interrupting traffic flow.
