By Zogbo S. Mulbah (Internews Intern)
It seems that marketers in the Redlight vicinity are adamant and firm in their decision despite an ultimatum issued by the President calling on business people selling at Red-light Market to vacate and allow development to go on.
The Omega Market duplex halls were constructed by past and current governments with a motive to direct all of street peddlers to move to the newly constructed market halls but since then, the marketers have put up a posture of disobeying government’s orders.
According to our reporter, marketers have refused to stay in the Omega Market where they were designated to sell because of the developments that are taking place on the Red-light community.
In an exclusive interview with one of the marketers, Musu Freeman confirmed that the Liberia National Police (LNP) disallowed them to sell at Red-light, instead, at the Omega Market.
Ms. Freeman claimed that selling at Omega is not satisfactory to them because selling there is like putting them out of business, noting, “Besides, businesses run slowly within the Omega Market, and sellers can hardly sit there to see their perishable goods spoil and other goods get stagnated,” she explained. “It is better for us to be killed on the street than to allow our businesses to spoil,” Freeman defiantly stated.
Another marketer in person of Andrew Cooper said the reason he left the Omega Market and came back to the Red-light Market is because he can’t be in Omega Market while his mates are in Red-light selling and getting faster money.
He also said that business runs very slowly in the Omega Market than that of Red-light Market.
He Further noted that they have been chased away by the Police and also the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) to go and sell in the Omega Market but they don’t think that will happen anytime soon because they want their businesses to run on a daily basis, so that they can be able to feed their families at home and send their children to school.
Others reported that the Omega Market is not going to see them anytime soon and that they are not tired of being chased out of the Red-light Market by the Police.
Marketers accused the Police of usually seizing their goods, beating on them, and sometimes locked them out. “We are already used to it,” they intimated.
They also said that the running race between them and the Police will not end soon, and that they must sell their goods in the Red-light Market and enable them accumulate enough money.
