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Unusual fracas may lead City Hall to clamp down on roadside vending
A small group converges outside City Hall yesterday.
Although roadside vending has been one of the illegal practices tolerated by the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown (M&CC) over the years, though in limited fashion, a drastic change may be underway.
This development was hinted at by Deputy Mayor Robert Williams yesterday, as he commented on a ruckus which erupted at City Hall yesterday. The situation reportedly stemmed from the efforts of City Constabulary officers to remove persons who were blocking a section of the pavement along Regent Street, outside the Acme Photo Studio.
“Vendors had committed a breach of the bylaws in that they were obstructing citizens who wished to walk on the pavement in front of Acme,” Williams stated. He revealed that the ranks were responding to a report made to the Constabulary about the obstruction, thus the persons accused of obstruction were invited down to City Hall together with the items that reportedly caused the obstruction.
It was during this process, Williams disclosed, that another individual “came out from nowhere and began to attempt to seize the cart (of obstructing items) from the Constables and hindered them in the course of their duty.”
She was warned of intended prosecution due to her behaviour and was subsequently invited to go to the outpost.
“She refused to comply and was arrested. In the process of being arrested she displayed reluctance in a physical way, hence a commotion.”
According to Williams, it has been far too long that persons have opted to challenge the authority of Constabulary Officers.
“For years now people normally challenge them because they feel they have a right to vend on Regent Street, a right the court has declared they do not have.” And in light of yesterday’s development, Williams said that it has become more evident that the time has come for the municipality to seriously address the issue of vending on Regent Street, even in the face of social problems and economic constraints.
“When we constructed the new Vendors’ Mall on Water Street we thought that that would have meant an end to vending in Water Street, but we still have to be patrolling and arresting people for selling there.”
“When will be able to take control of the (illegal) movement on the pavement; whatever the problem is, whether socially or economically, it is certainly affecting the municipality fulfilling its mandate to keep the city clear from obstruction,” Williams asserted.
And even as the matter was being addressed, a crowd gathered outside City Hall where persons related a bitter tale of assault meted out to the arrested woman.
According to Deputy Superintendent, Michael Toney, he had not received any report of assault on the part of Constabulary officers but noted that the matter is being investigated. “Right now the matter is under investigation and as soon as that part is finished she will be released on bail.”
Williams explained that the procedure allows any person being arrested for any offence that claims to be assaulted or beaten by any member of the constabulary to be given a medical form to take to the hospital and obtain a medical certificate, after which senior officers are made to carry out an investigation. And there is a possibility that the matter can reach to the level of council. “If the person feels he/she was unjustly arrested he/she can formally place a complaint and it will be investigated,” Williams asserted.
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