Market cracks down on sale of store goods

THE management of the Mt Hagen Market wants vendors selling store goods inside the market to stop immediately.
The general manager of Hagen 2 Investment, the business arm of the Mt Hagen rural local level government, told The National that the market was purposely built for garden produce only.
“I’m warning the lazy people putting up stalls to sell store goods to stop and go back to your villages, cultivate your land and bring garden produce to the market,” Rex Punim said.
Punim said his management would seek police and defence force help to clear out those vendors without notice.
“We must maintain the reputation of our market as the best market in the country and Pacific.”
He said the market supported farmers in the province and those living within the city area.
“We do not want foreign goods like maggie cubes, noodles, cooking oil, chewing gum, and other items like that to be sold inside the market.”
Meanwhile, Punim appealed to seven tenants renting seven store buildings in front of the main market to pay up their rents.
He said the tenants refused to pay their rentals since 2013 when a failed election was declared after the Mt Hagen rural local level government was set up.
“This year, we have a legitimate third arm of the government in place under the leadership of council president Wai Rapa.
“We want to take control of all our assets and do business with genuine people starting next year,” he said.