By Stephen N. Tokpah
-Bong
The Gbarnga City Corporation (GCC) in collaboration with the Liberia Marketing Association (LMA), has again relocated the Sunday market from the Bassa Community to the Sugar Hill Community.
The move which took effect in the early morning of Sunday, January 5, 2025, redirected all Sunday market activities to the Sugar Hill Market located behind the Old Facebook Entertainment Center.
The Gbarnga City Mayor Gallah Varpilah said the relocation is intended to clean and reorganize both the Sirleaf’s Market and the former Sunday Market in Bassa Community ahead of daily selling activities in the two areas.
He further stated that the abandoned Sugar Hill Market facility will now be used exclusively for Sunday selling, similar to how the Bassa Community Market was utilized.
Mayor Varpilah clarifies that the GCC did not stop the Sunday selling entirely, as previously thought instead, it implemented a decision made in collaboration with the LMA to cease Sunday selling in the market located in the Bassa Community, which was previously used for Sunday trading.
However, challenges have surfaced as the Sugar Hill Market is not yet prepared to accommodate vendors as the site is in a filthy state.
However, the mayor revealed that the announcement was made a week ago, and the GCC had expected the LMA to ensure the site was cleaned and ready for business activities.
Historical accounts indicate that the Sugar Hill Market structure was constructed during the administration of former President Samuel K. Doe in the early 1980s.
However, the facility has been abandoned for decades.
Over the years, according to some dwellers of the community, it has been used as a community school, a church, and an office space for grassroots organizations.
Some marketers expressed frustration over the decision by the LMA and GCC, stating that the Sugar Hill Market is not ready to host them.
Early Sunday morning, vendors who went to the Bassa Community Market to sell as usual were forcibly removed by the city police.
However, the Executive Director of the Foundation for International Dignity (FIND), Aaron Juaquellie, has openly challenged the mayor’s authority to enforce the ban.
Mr. Juaquellie on January 6, 2024, asserted that Sunday is not a national holiday and that the mayor lacks the legal mandate to implement such a policy.
He further argued that the decision infringes on the rights of individual marketers and warned that any attempt to enforce the ban would result in legal action against the Mayor.
