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M&CC to clamp down on roadside vending
Work in progress at the Vendors’ Mall
The removal of roadside vendors from the streets of Georgetown is still high on the agenda of the Mayor and City Council. According to Deputy Mayor Robert Williams, plans are urgently apace to implement measures in this regard.
During the Christmas season the municipality had given clearance for several vendors to ply their trade along some streets of Georgetown, a development that the municipality has already begun to target.
City Mayor Hamilton Green had said last year that, while roadside vending is an illegal act, efforts would have been made during the Christmas season to restrict the vending activities rather than prevent them.
He said 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.
According to Williams at a recent statutory meeting, the removal of vendors at the moment comes as part of an agreement and understanding between the municipality and the Government to end roadside vending.
The Deputy Mayor said that vending on city pavements during the Christmas season must not be mistaken for a lapse by the municipality to enforce the city by-laws. He further asserted that the vending situation must not be interpreted to mean a release of the authority of the municipality. It was allowed in keeping with the circumstances of the day, he added.
Williams said that the situation is expected to be addressed to some extent with the completion of the Vendors’ Mall on Water Street.
The Mall was reduced to rubble two months ago and, according to Clerk of Markets Schulder Griffith, it is expected that the concrete structures will be completed by this month-end.
Currently vendors who once occupied the structures are allowed to ply their trade along the northern and eastern periphery of the facility.
A total of 177 stallholders offering clothing, haberdashery, greens, groceries and fast food will be accommodated at the facility when it is completed and, according to Griffith, they are already anticipating their return to the facility in a very competitive way.
He disclosed that it is anticipated that the rental of the stalls will serve to maintain the operation of the facility and contribute to the municipal revenue base at the same time.
Up to Tuesday work was progressing satisfactorily on site, according to Griffith.
With the completion of the Mall, Williams said that Water Street should be among the first streets to be cleared of street-vending, a process which will continue in Regent Street and all other streets along which vending occurs.
The Mall was initially brought into being by the municipality as a means of removing street vendors; however, many vendors were of the opinion that the facility did not attract much patronage, thus they moved back to the streets.
According to Williams, although it is the ideal move to rid all the city streets of roadside congestion caused by vending, the municipality can only do a little at a time.
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