The long-standing rental issue at the Centenary Farmers Market (CFM) in Thimphu has been put to rest yesterday after the Prime Minister visited the market. The Prime Minister along with the vendors and CFM officials discussed on the rental issue.
Earlier, they have been paying for six days in a week whether the stalls are open or not. After much discussion yesterday, everyone agreed to pay for five days in a week and to pay for the sixth day only if their stalls are open. The market is closed on every Tuesday to carry out cleaning works.
“All the vendors are not rich people. We have vendors who do not have any land, who have many children and who have no husband. The Prime Minister today helped us with the issue and we all are satisfied with what has been decided,” said Lobzang Wangchuk, a Vendor at the CFM.
The rental was hiked in March this year. With different charges for different stalls, the rent was increased by over 45 per cent. Vendors at the market yesterday, came together and expressed their grievances mainly with the rental hike. They said that it is difficult for them to pay high charges and that they have also appealed to other relevant authorities. However, they said nothing was done to help them.
“We appealed to the Agriculture Minister earlier. He told us that he will help us within a month. Five of us went to him representing the vendors but we didn’t get any reply later. We were supposed to get a reply, be it positive or negative. Later a statement was sent that no changes will be made,” said Ugyen, a Vendor at the CFM.
The vendors also compared their rental revision with the Tenancy Act of Bhutan where 10 per cent of the rent is increased every after two years. They said the existing rent is in violation of the Act.
The officials of the CFM, however, said the revision is made when necessary and that the rent collected is used for their benefit as it is spent to maintain the infrastructure. The Prime Minister also said the tax is likely to increase with better infrastructure and environment.
During the meet, the vendors also brought out different issues like timing. The winter timing has also been extended from 7 AM in the morning to 8 PM in the evening. Earlier it was from 7 AM to 7 PM. Meanwhile, the summer timing has been kept the same. There are over 400 stalls at the market.
Kinley Dem
