2024-04-27 16:59:17
Without a permit, you will be fined
Biržai Farmers’ Market was transferred to the city council, because the farmer of the district who rented the market a couple of years ago terminated the contract.
The market is open as before, on Thursdays and Saturdays, but ordinary residents fear that they will now face inconvenience. Biržietė Birutė Kvedaravičienė complained that a trade permit can only be purchased on working days.
“Let’s say, on Saturday morning, I cut lettuce, radishes or dill grown in my garden, picked some dahlias, but I won’t be able to sell them at the Farmer’s Market because I won’t have a receipt. And if I go without it, I will get a fine,” the woman shuddered.
She wondered how she could buy a trade permit in the evening if she didn’t know if she would have anything to sell the next morning. It is especially difficult for those who rush to the woods to pick mushrooms or berries as soon as dawn breaks. Whether they return with full bags or empty is a matter of luck.
The woman admitted that such an arrangement might not cause headaches for regular market traders. Until now, other market people, who came to sell something only occasionally, bought the permit at the market place itself.
B. Kvedaravičienė was also surprised that the price of the permit increased from a couple of euros to 3.30 euros.
You can’t come and trade
Alderwoman Kristina Undzēnienė told the correspondent that the Biržai City Council will administer the marketplace only until the auction takes place. She didn’t know when that would happen, at least roughly.
She confirmed that permits are only issued on weekdays. Because the council cannot accept cash on Saturdays. There is another solution – to pay through the terminal or by bank transfer.
But K. Undzēnienė explained that not everything is so simple. In order for a person to trade legally, he must submit certain documents to the municipality, such as a business license, individual activity certificate, land ownership number or others.
“A person has to bring the documents to the town hall, submit an application for permission to trade, sign it. You can’t come to the market like that, stand up and sell,” she taught.
K. Undzēnienė assured that such procedure and rates were not determined by her, not by the council, but by the district council.
Will there be a shopping center or not?
Jurga Bagamolovienė, director of the administration of the district municipality, confirmed that a lease auction will be held in the territory of the Farmers Market due to state land. It will not be organized by the municipality, but by the National Land Service under the Ministry of Environment.
When asked if a shopping center could spring up in the current market place, as the people of the market say, the interviewer said that nothing is clear yet. This is the territory of the old city, and there are many restrictions on it.
2024-04-27 16:59:17