Published: September 7, 2026
MONROVIA — Street vendors at Red Light say Paynesville City Corporation officers are dividing confiscated merchandise among themselves instead of returning it, an allegation they carried to the corporation’s offices Saturday along with complaints that officers use physical force and enforce beyond the vending boundaries the two sides agreed.
Chanting “We want our market,” the protesters demanded the return of seized goods and action against the officers they accuse.
“I want to know if it was the government that told the PCC people that they should share the seized market among themselves,” said a vendor who gave her name only as Diamond.
A male protester who did not give his name said he saw it happen when he went to reclaim his own merchandise.
“I came for my market and saw them sharing it among themselves,” he said.
He said he had not been trading on the sidewalk when his goods were taken. “I wasn’t selling on the sidewalk, but if they run behind those that are selling there, we all get mixed together and they will take our market despite explaining that I wasn’t selling on the sidewalk,” he said.
Garmen Flomo, a handbag vendor, said traders have little recourse once merchandise is seized.
“They can seize our market and if we complain to the law, the law can arrest us and then we pay the charges,” Flomo said.
Flomo said she trades at Red Light because business is slow at Omega Market, and that her goods had been held at the PCC office about a week.
Another man in the crowd, who also did not give his name, said officers turn physical during seizures and no longer deal with the vendors’ own leadership.
“The Paynesville City Corporation can also result to physical violence when taking market from the marketers,” he said.
“We have our leadership, but the PCC are not complying with the leadership anymore. They are going beyond the demarcation they gave us and chase us,” he said.
The vendors want their merchandise returned, an investigation into the allegations, clearer enforcement boundaries and what they called more humane treatment. Many at Red Light depend on daily sales.
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