There is hope for Papine Market
THE EDITOR, Madam:
I WAS so glad Carolyn Cooper gave Papine Market the time of day in her article of January 28. And congratulations on the impact! I am delighted that The Gleaner wrote an editorial in response to her article. Papine Market is my habitual stop every Friday morning for fresh-fresh fruit and vegetables. I park on the strip above Aquinas Centre and my visits are pleasant, at worse, tolerable. But when parking is not available on that strip and I am forced to park alongside the dump, I am repulsed and vow to find another source for my fruits and vegetables. The stench is as nauseating as the sight of garbage strewn all over the sidewalk and thick in the open drains. Rather than pick my way through that stinking mess, I feel safer walking on the busy main road, risking being swiped by a car or bus.
Like so many others, I only stay at Papine because of lovely people like Meghan and Dawn and Maizie. The vendors and their customers have built good relationships. We look out for each other. A few weeks ago, on one of my unfortunate mornings parked next to the dump, one of the vendors helped me carry my stuff back to my car. As I ushered her to take the dangerous alternative and opt for the busy roadway, she bemoaned the situation. “Is here we have to make our living. Is so the government treat us! They don’t care for us.” That day, I called a close friend of Carolyn Cooper, requesting her number to prevail on her to raise the matter of Papine Market in her column, but was assured that it made no sense calling her as she was tired of the parish council’s lack of interest in the situation.
When I read the headline of her column, I shouted “Hallelujah!” Two Fridays ago, it was such a pleasure to see that the sidewalk had been swept clean. No, not washed down! That would be asking way too much. There was even a garbage bin on the sidewalk. Instead of the dump stacked too high, with garbage falling out on to the pavement, it was half empty. I guess the truck couldn’t hold it all and was only paid to make one trip. Even the stench was tamped down. Still there, but the air was breathable. Between the upcoming parish council elections and Carolyn Cooper, there is hope! But it’s a pity, it seems, that we will have to depend on ‘Ms Kupa’ to ensure that this progress at Papine Market is sustained, long after the Green and the Orange have turned away and moved on to their next campaign.
GILLIAN GLEAN-WALKER gillian.gleanwalker@gmail.com