Despite the fact that the market in the city of Granada does not have an area for the sale of handicrafts, dozens of tourists from outside the country come daily to visit the main shopping center of the colonial city, often to taste the traditional vigorón and record daily life in one of the oldest markets in Central America with their cameras.
Many merchants work in makeshift sections with plastic or canvas roofs supported by flimsy wooden poles, others occupy divisions of the old structure that still preserves the original design.
When visitors or local citizens walk on the peripheries of the municipal market, they observe ponds and dilapidated streets in their path that denote an abandonment of progress on the part of the municipal authorities. In the sector of the terminal of transport units that travel to Rivas, Carazo and Nandaime, the cobblestone is deteriorated and with the rains even large puddles are formed according to the vendors themselves.
“Here we pay fourteen córdobas a day to the mayor’s tax collector to have the right to the apartment, but we do not see those taxes reflected in better conditions, for the merchants who come to sell food and essential household products,” said one vendor that is dedicated to the sale of avocados and mangoes.
total neglect
Access to the market from the southeast is in a terrible state.
The surrounding streets that connect to the municipal market of Granada require maintenance. Among them is the so-called “Barrio Maldito”, an area governed by young people at risk who maintain themselves by drinking liquor on a daily basis. There are also the streets that lead to the Cuiscoma neighborhood, the famous El Yoyo and Concepción streets.
«It is sad to see how the tourists who visit us, after visiting the historic center of the city, come to the municipal market to see the other face of the Great Sultana. Here we have been asking for years, in addition to good infrastructure, that the surrounding streets be repaired, to be in a hygienic environment and thus be able to offer our products to those who visit us,” commented fruit and vegetable vendor Pedro Ruiz.
The current Ortega mayor of this city, Rosario Caldera, who replaced the former mayor Pedro Vargas, after he resigned at the beginning of March of this year arguing “health problems”, does not contemplate within his Investment Plan, the repair and maintenance of the streets adjacent to the municipal market, according to one of the members of the Council.
“The priority that this municipal government has is the maintenance and repair of the central streets of the city, where national and foreign visitors circulate, but it is sad to see how repairs are relegated to the streets surrounding the market that connect with important neighborhoods. », criticized the source.
broken promise
In one of the marginal streets at the entrance to the Granada market, rubbish is scattered everywhere.
In each municipal campaign, the market is visited by the aspirants of the Ortega party, who for more than 15 years have maintained control of the commune and always point out that within their government plan they have contemplated offering better conditions to the merchants, but they do not they comply and oblivion persists. Other times, what they have done is the repair of the streets of the market and its surroundings, improvements to the infrastructure in its modules, but the streets in the surrounding neighborhoods remain the same.
“We hope that this mayor’s office does not focus only on beautifying La Calzada street, which is important to attract tourism, but should also prioritize the well-being of our merchant brothers, who boost the local economy,” our public source said.
