Gordon market closed down
By JOSHUA ARLO
GORDON market was closed down by city police yesterday due to many “illegal activities” reportedly thriving in the premises.
National Capital District (NCD) Metropolitan Supt Fred Yakasa confirmed this, saying the vendors have been given a week’s warning to yesterday’s closure.
However, he has recommended that all betel nut sellers be relocated at either Nine Mile or 14 Mile and be banned from selling inside the city.
‘We have closed Gordon market and it is being manned by police throughout this week,” Mr Yakasa said yesterday.
He said he had written to NCD health division on the unhygienic state it was in where people were selling in makeshift structures built even at the car park, making it inconvenient to people coming to the market.
He said it was not safe for the general public to buy cooked foods which were being sold on the ground, with dust contaminating them.
“We want a market where food sold in it is consumable,” Mr Yakasa said.
He said marijuana was sold and smoked like any tobacco or cigarettes and alcohol was also being sold in eskies and consumed inside the market.
Stolen items were being sold and young girls were being indecently touched, he said.
Mr Yakasa said he was not against informal markets, but the authorities should establish adequate informal markets in “small pockets with fences” which would make it easier to control.
“We are all aware of an act passed down by parliament recently… and many people have raised the issue on what we (police) are doing to remove street vendors from selling at undesignated areas in the city,”Mr Yakasa said.
He said street selling was illegal when such vendors were not doing it in the designated market areas and when it infringed on the rights of others.
Mr Yakasa said there had been a lot of instances where street vendors were selling fake mobile flex cards and pirated CDs.
“We are standing on what we are doing and the police have a role to keep the city clean, safe and secure,” he said.
Mr Yakasa said the police were ready to work with other sectors and the local authorities to maintain the cleanliness of the city.
He said in terms of enforcing the law, he as head of the police in the city, has a duty to discharge to keep the city safe and clean, not only for the residents and visitors, but for the 6.5 million people in the country, as it is their national pride.
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