The shopping center management committee denounces unfair competition and challenges the authorities

The Colobane Shopping Center Management Committee is sounding the alarm. During a press briefing held this Friday, its members denounced a situation which they deem “untenable” in the face of competition deemed unfair. At the origin of their anger: traders installed informally on private spaces, which sell similar products at very low prices.

“Not only should these sellers not be there, but they prevent us from having our goods sell. They sell poor quality items, but at prices that break the market, ”deplored Serigne Mbacké Sèye, trader and member of the management committee.

According to the Committee, these illegal traders notably occupy the parking lot of the shopping center, transformed into a real parallel market, active from 5 a.m. until 8 p.m. A situation that undermines the activities of regular merchants, in good standing with the administration.

Faced with this, those responsible for the shopping center claim to have seized the local authorities. The mayor of the town of Gueule Tapée-Fass-Colobane, Abdou Aziz Paye, has already sent agents to secure the site. But current measures are deemed insufficient.

“We have even proposed to finance other security elements ourselves, as long as the situation stabilizes,” said Sèye.
Exasperated, committee members threaten to take action by suspending payment of their taxes if concrete solutions are not found quickly.

“We have paid dearly for our stores, we are in good standing with taxes. We can no longer accept this injustice, ”he insisted, calling on the highest authorities in the State to intervene to restore order and equity in the Commercial Zone of Colobane.