Traders at the Waterloo – Tombo Park Market especially those using the sideways of the street are in a panic mood as police patrol from the Waterloo Police Station constantly invade and scatter their goods or confiscate them though they pay market dues on daily basis to the Western Area Rural District Council (WARDC).
Adama Kamara, an okra seller who is less than eighteen years lamented that her tray had been smashed on the ground and the scared traders stepped on all the okra, she was carrying. She was arrested but was later released on their way to the police station.
Earlier this week, panic gripped traders along the runway leading to the park which is always crowded by traders. The police van with armed officers pulled over the street and officers started jumping from the vehicle to chase away the traders. A lady, who was on her way to the busy market, nearly lost her life due to a stampede.
The angry-looking officers when asked for permission to take a snapshot, by this medium, they issued threatening remarks stopping us from doing our job.
The media man for the Waterloo Police Station, ASP Jalloh reiterates that the issue of street trading in the district is alarming. He said they have seized items and even locked up defaulters but see them there again the next day, he added.
The Traders Union has blamed WARDC saying they lack the infrastructure to provide trading space for the growing traders’ population in the district. The Chairman, Albert Tarawallie had boasted that their membership contributes largely to the home-sourced revenue Council has been using over the years.
Chairman of WARDC, Kashow Holland-Cole, it could be recalled, had stated that over 80% of the revenue projected to be generated in 2023 has to come from home-sourced revenue including market dues. He said under his administration, markets have been constructed but still facing the issue of street trading.
Stakeholders in the district are calling on the Council and the Police to stand their ground so the traders get into the market instead of trading in the street.