Something Stinks at Pound Yard Market  

On Tuesday, vendors from the Pound Yard Market reached out to News Five to bring attention to the unsanitary conditions they have been working in for the past week. According to the vendors, the trash bins located at the back of the market have been overflowing, causing a foul smell to disturb the nearby vendors. They also complain that due to the recent rain, the trash bins have been leaking in the surrounding areas. Today, News Five’s Britney Gordon visited the market to hear from the vendors affected by this situation.  

 

Britney Gordon, Reporting

The Pound Yard Market Stinks and no one is happy about it. Vendors and customers cannot bear the stench of trash and polluted water from overflowing trash bins placed directly near stalls. Vegetable Vendor, Armando Solis, who has a stall near the bins, tells us that he has tried every avenue to get the issue resolved for the past few days.

 

Armando Solis, Produce Vendor

“We already called the human department and I believe actually I cannot tell ypu who come to see it and the only answer that they give us that they was going to speak with the administration  and the  following day city council come and they said the same thing  that they’re going to speak with the administration that happened last week  and no  nothing is happening  we have been I have been spoken with the with one of the administrator that is supposed to be doing something for us about the garbage. And he said that they are working on it, but up to now we don’t see they are working on the garbage. And it’s an issue because we have a kitchen on the side. We have a vegetables vendor right there. And all the customers that are passing, they’re saying we have a, that’s not correct.”

 

The garbage is picked up once a week, on Wednesdays. By Monday morning the foul odor is unbearable, and the bins are swarming with houseflies.  It is an unwelcoming environment where no one wants to purchase food.  Ana Portillo, a food vendor for over ten years, says the market administration told her that she can relocate, but she does not want to uproot her business.

 

Ana Portillo, Food Vendor

“He say I have the option to move from here to that place, but this is my place for a long time, so I don’t want to move from here.”

 

Britney Gordon

“Your customers know that you are here, and so you feel that if you move, that might affect business too?”

 

Ana Portillo

“It could be.”

 

Previously, the bins were located further behind the market, but they have since been moved because of apartments being built nearby.

 

Armando Solis

“They just moved it front because I believe they’re doing some apartment da back.  And they say that for the apartments, it’s not good,  but it’s good for us.”

 

Britney Gordon

“That sells food.”

 

Armando Solis

“Yeah, that is good for us to have it there. And the apartments not even finish it.  So the new customer have not reached there yet. We have been here for a couple of years and they don’t put that in value.”

 

To the vendors, the situation is dire, with no clear end in sight. According to the Pound Yard administration, it is a temporary situation. About a decade ago, similar complaints were raised at the nearby Michael Finnegan Market, but a garbage facility has since been built at the back of the market. Kelvin Aguilar, a manager at the Pound Yard Market, explained that the team is working to implement that very same solution.

 

On the Phone: Kelvin Aguilar, Manager, Pound Yard Market

“What happened is that we needed a location to put the garbage bin so that we can build the permanent foundation for the bin. What what we are doing now is that we are building some apartments on the right side of the property  and we wanted to build a fence with a gate to facilitate the Belize Waste Control to come and pick up the bin, no?  And due to the fact that this has always been Issue for us, we want to address it in the best for the best way possible. So we have also signed documents to get a bigger been, which is seven feet longer than the existing been that we have.  And because the bin is bigger, we need a bigger foundation, the one that we are going to get we are going to put walls around it  with a proper drainage system on the foundation, and we will have hours. In place for the entire market to come and throw away their to get disposed of their garbage.”

 

According to Aguilar, there was no where else to place the bins while the structure is being built, as Belize Waste Control needs enough space to pick up the trash. As a temporary fix, the market is purchasing a bigger trash bin and a shed.

 

On the Phone: Kelvin Aguilar

“We have put gravel and I have instructed the guys to also put lime. The white lime. This soaks up the little drainage that is caused due to the rain and the garbage and everything, which we believe that putting a shed is going to help alleviate that. What happened is that the vendors are getting rid of, of vegetables that haven’t sold and, all the waste and so when it rains, this causes the flies and all that kind of stuff. It causes a smell and everything. So we believe that by putting the shed and everything in place, it’s going to help.”

 

While the vendors wait for the problems to be resolved, the administration asks that they all throw their trash inside the bin, instead of the surrounding area, to minimize leakage.

 

On The Phone: Kelvin Aguilar

“We have to all work together to try and help this. It’s just a temporary situation, so I expect that by this next week, it should be solved.”

 

Britney Gordon for News Five.