Vegetable vendors at Chamkhar’s vegetable market in Bumthang are asking the municipality to provide better services and improve the condition of the vegetable sheds. This call for action comes after the municipality started levying the vendors a monthly rental fee of Nu 1,000 per vendor since March, last year.
There are about 20 regular vendors who use the shed for commercial purpose. With no enclosures on the sheds, every evening the vendors have to collect their produce and put them in boxes and baskets before they leave for home. This takes about an hour and they still have to worry about scavenging cattle that loiter around the market. In the morning, they have to spend another hour unwrapping and displaying the goods.
Sonam Sherab, a vegetable vendor at Chamkhar said, “the sheds are exposed and cattle can damage our goods easily. It would be beneficial for us if the sheds are made as in Trongsa and Monggar where there are lock and key system.”
“We will of course pay the fee but a lot of improvement works have to be done. The cattle menace is a big issue. Displaying the goods in the morning and packing them in the evening is tedious and time-consuming,” added another vegetable vendor, Lalita Devi.
When the Dzongkhag Tshogdu endorsed the regulation of imposing fees on the vendors last year, the municipality said the amount would cover utility bills, a caretaker’s salary and the vegetable sheds’ rent.
Kuenzang Dema, a vegetable vendor, “We didn’t see any changes happening after they started imposing the fee. We do all the cleaning ourselves. At Trongsa and Monggar, they have caretakers who collect the fee as well as clean the vegetable market and look after the goods. Our vegetable market is bare and we are exposed to wind. Moreover, cows spoil our vegetables and dirty the place.”
Bumthang’s municipal in charge Pema Thinley said that a sweeper has been deployed with a monthly salary of Nu 6,000 since last year to clean the public toilet near the market and its car parking. He also said the vendors have to clean the individual space allotted in the sheds themselves. The municipality will work out a plan to execute necessary improvement works at the vegetable market with the remaining rental amount.
Kipchu, Bumthang
