NESHWIN ALMEIDA
With the tribal vendors coming in with their cucumbers, melons and gourds and finding space around the city of Margao, there is a sense of discomfort amongst the local market vendors and also local residents sympathising and wanting to support these seasonal vendors. There’s a deadlock that needs to be broken and the vending menace within the city needs to be sorted out.
“While not just fruit vendors from other areas are encroaching and doing business in Margao but also lots of illegal migrant vendors are selling clothes and shoes on Margao’s sidewalks and open spaces after 6 pm but the municipality seems to be indifferent and tolerating those vendors,” explains Seby Pereira, a Borda resident irked that his relative’s cart in a private property along the Arlem-Fatorda bypass has been picked up by the municipality and confiscated causing losses to a poor family.
Vending Committee member Jose Maria Miranda explained to Herald how he had received an intimation of being drafted into the municipality’s vending committee but nothing has happened more than that.
“I am yet to be sent a written note or summoned for a meeting. These committees don’t do anything concrete though there is so much to be probed and discussed. I am even on the municipality’s road safety committee but these committees are just nameplates I believe,” explained Jose Maria Miranda, a social activist and retired banker.
“The vending committee is the work of the chairperson. I have written to all my councillors to identify areas for vendors in each of the 25 wards. I want it to be a proper process to allow and disallow vendors,” explained Dr Babita Prabhudessai, MMC Chairperson.
Babita explains that MMC has completely finished its work from Holy Spirit Church to Sonsoddo of pulling out all illegal vendors and relocating them.
“When it comes to tribal vendors I have spoken to the Tribal Welfare Department Director Mr Velip to find a solution and platform for these vendors. While I can’t ignore the protest of my local market vendors who pay taxes and whose business gets affected by these seasonal vendors, I can’t disallow the tribal and pretend to be elitist. Now that illegal vendors are pulled out and once my councillors identify spaces, we can then allot these spaces in consultation with the vending committee that consists of market vendors too.
Deputy Chairperson Tito Cardozo explained to Herald that vendors include hawkers on foot and those on carts while he said as market chairman he wants to clamp down on unregistered and illegal carts, the next focus is to clamp down on illegal migrant vendors and then work out a formal process of allotting vending zones.
