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Roadside vending to be curtailed during Xmas season – City Mayor
Roadside vending activities will be curtailed during the Christmas season
The illegality of roadside vending is a notion that the Georgetown municipality has been trying to emphasise over the years.
However, according to City Mayor Hamilton Green during an interview with this newspaper yesterday, efforts will be made this Christmas season to restrict the vending activities rather than prevent it.
He pointed out that although earnest attempts are continually being made to clear the city streets and pavement of congestion created by vending, the Council has not been able to fully achieve its objectives.
“People are always vending on the streets and on the pavements…We are even finding now that business owners are also coming out…In fact, they (business owners) have even bigger displays than the regular vendors,” the Mayor opined.
It was pointed out by Deputy Mayor Robert Williams that vending on city pavements during the Christmas season must not be mistaken for a lapse by City Hall to enforce the city by-laws.
Williams further asserted that the vending situation must not be interpreted to mean a release of the authority of the municipality, adding that it is being allowed in keeping with the circumstances of the day.
“The environment in which we live requires that we relax on the enforcement during the Christmas season.”
He added that the vendors were warned to ensure that they do not block the entrances to business places; that they provide passage for citizens to use the pavement; and that their (the vendors) surroundings are not an impediment to the drainage network of the city.
As such, Mayor Green revealed yesterday that the municipality will be working towards ensuring that only regular vendors are allowed to vend, once they follow the requisite rules and regulations.
He disclosed that the City Constabulary will be playing a major role in this regard and will be on alert to detect defaulters.
“The constabulary officers will have an intensified operation…recently they even had to have some displays of fans removed from the pavement…,” Mayor Green related.
The municipality on a number of occasions had attempted to halt street vending and even brought into being the Toolsie Persaud Mall on Water Street to address the problem.
Several hundred vendors had opted for relocation but were soon dissuaded after it was discovered that customers were not encouraged by the new location.
As a result, street vending continues to be commonplace in the city, a practice which increases during the Christmas season and competes strongly with established city businesses, and even the municipal markets.
But in order to ensure that the municipal markets get their fair share of sales, the municipality in a release yesterday announced its late shopping times for the season which will commence on Saturday December 6, 2008.
The Stabroek, La Penitence, Bourda and Kitty Markets will be opened to the public from 07:00 hours up to 17:00 hours on Saturday while Tuesday December 16 will see the markets closing one hour later.
On Christmas Eve, Wednesday December 24, shopping will last until 20:00 hours.
On all Sundays and holidays this month, the market will be opening from 07:00 hours to 10:00 hours.
The East Ruimveldt Market and the Merriman’s Mall will also be opened for shopping next Saturday from 07:00 hours to 19:00 hours and on Christmas Eve from 07:00 hours to 20:00 hours.
The two entities will, however, be opened on Sundays from 07:00 hours to 13:00 hours.
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