Vendors at the flea market on the Kai Tak airport site won a 13 per cent rent cut after going on strike yesterday. The stallholders - many of whom are unemployed but try to eke out a living selling food and gift items - said they were losing money because the management firm, WorldEvents Limited, did not adequately promote the market. About 150 of the 200 vendors went on strike. They also claimed the $10 entrance fee was deterring potential visitors. After meeting the vendors, WorldEvents agreed to give five days' free rent - amounting to a 13 per cent cut - as well as add one more shuttle for shoppers and increase advertising. A meeting between vendors last night revealed divisions, with about half deciding to resume business today, but the others still angry about the level of compensation. It appeared some of the stallholders would continue the strike. WorldEvents officials said they had invested $10 million in renting the land and turning it from barren concrete into a market with portable toilets and electricity. Company officials were optimistic most vendors would accept the offer. They said more than 130,000 people had visited the market in the first nine days of the 'Christmas Bazaar', exceeding projections. Organisers hope 500,000 patrons will visit the site during the bazaar, which officially lasts 30 days. The market actually opened on November 27 and is scheduled to run until January 3, from noon until 10pm. Gordon Oldham, a lawyer for the company, said: 'Many of the vendors are making money. The ones who aren't need to look at whether they're selling the right products.' The short-term lease attracted many jobless people because it did not require a long-term financial commitment. Vendors paid total rents ranging from $18,000 to $51,000, depending on their stall's location. They each invested an average of $20,000 in equipment and supplies. Noodle stall owner Li Siu-king, whose husband lost his job a year ago, said: 'We refinanced our house to pay for the rent and purchase the equipment. We didn't want to burden the Government applying for welfare.'
