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City police called in as Regent Street store granted injunction
Owners of the Shamdas Kirpalani Store, Regent Street, have been granted an injunction barring street vending in front of their business.
By Leonard Gildarie
In a sign of growing frustration, a Regent Street business has been granted a court injunction barring vendors from selling outside its premises.
Yesterday, members of the City Constabulary patrolled the pavement in front of Shamdas Kirpalani, in an obvious attempt to enforce the injunction
Recently, there have been increasing calls for urgent attention to street vending in parts of the city, including Water and Regent Streets, and Avenue of the Republic.
A Chinese storeowner claimed to have been beaten and thrown into a gutter after asking vendors to move from in front of her Regent Street establishment.
Last Friday, owners of Shamdas Kirpalani, Kanayalall and Meera Kirpalani, filed court documents asking for orders compelling the Town Clerk of the City of Georgetown from permitting vendors from operating in front of the premises at 107 Regent Street, Lacytown.
In the injunction granted Monday by Justice Rishi Persaud, the Town Clerk and Mayor and City Councillors and their agents, the City Constabulary, are restrained from permitting or allowing anyone from erecting or installing any structures until the determination of summons which comes up for a hearing later this month.
In their ex-parte application by way of an affidavit for an interim injunction, the Kirpalanis asked for damages in excess of $200,000 for breach of statutory duty and loss suffered as a result of the vending.
The plaintiffs claimed that they own the building at 107 Regent Street which is valued in excess of $100M, and under which they operate the Shamdas Kirpalani Store
Attorney-at-law K.A. Juman-Yassin is representing the business.
The Kirpalanis claimed in the affidavit that they have been operating at the location for over 15 years, employing over 50 staffers. Other pertinent claims were made.
“….immediately in front of our business is the pavement which is owned and or comes under the supervision and/or control of the Mayor and City Councillors of the City of Georgetown. Over fifteen years now street vendors and/or persons ply their trade in front of our store despite our protests to them.”
The affidavit noted that in additional to new vendors operating from time to time, and encumbering the pavement with their stalls and displays, the vendors also “commit trespass” to the store by attaching wares and other items to its walls.
The Kirpalanis also claimed that in addition to blocking side entrances, there is a serious garbage situation at the end of each day with strewn pieces of cardboard boxes and plastic bags, among other things.
The plaintiffs said that despite pleas to remove, the vendors abused them and said, “There was nothing I could do as they (the vendors) have to make a living.”
Although several complaints were lodged at the City Constabulary, and while a few vendors were removed, they would return a few days later.
The Kirpalanis, in the affidavit, stressed that whenever there was a need to use the side entrances of the business, the vendors would “take their time to do so” and even be abusive.
“In front of our store is a glass display but unfortunately most times it serves little purpose as customers who are passing on the road and/or are walking on the pavement cannot see into our showcase as it is normally blocked by the vendors and the items which the vendors sell.”
The Kirpalanis said that on August 10, they sent a letter to City Hall requesting the removal of the vendors.
On August 24, “members of the City Constabulary came and removed some of the vendors, but not all, and there was no good and proper reason why all the vendors who were and are encumbering the pavement in front of our store, were not removed.”
The storeowners claimed that vendors, apart from blocking pedestrians on the pavement, also hindered customers entering the store, and on many occasions, robbers used the congested situation to pounce on these very customers.
The Kirpalanis, in their affidavit, argued that since the Mayor and City Council, failed in its responsibility to ensure there is no encumbrance on the pavement in front of the store and this itself is a breach of their statutory duty.
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