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THERE SHOULD BE NO ILLEGAL VENDING IN STABROEK SQUARE

Jan 07, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

The Minister of Home Affairs is right. People are indeed going to ask why it is that it had to take a deadly explosion to force the authorities to dismantle stalls in the vicinity of the Stabroek Market.
People are indeed wondering why action was not taken before, especially considering the fact that the entire Stabroek Market area is congested and an eyesore.
This action of dismantling all illegal structures should have been taken a long time ago. The entire Stabroek Square should have been cleared and left free of vendors and even car parks.
All cities have large open squares where people can move around freely. In Guyana we seem to want to reduce the space available by crowding every conceivable inch. This does not make for an orderly city, and Georgetown has paid a huge price for the disorder that characterizes the capital.
It is unfortunate that it had to take a grenade explosion, which killed one man and injured 19 other persons, for firm action to be taken. This brings back memories of the time when the authorities allowed a camp to be established in the avenue along Main Street outside the Prime Minister’s residence, and it was only after trouble broke out in another part of the city that allowed the authorities to move to dismantle that tent that was set up as a form of protest action.
Right now there are scores of vendors who are protesting not being allowed to earn a living. What they do not realize is that they are free to make a living, but not where they were selling. They should never have been there, and as much as there will be some inconvenience for them, it is time for the vendors, operators of the makeshift beer gardens, the barber shops and the beauty salons, to find somewhere else to vend their wares and skills, because the Stabroek Square needs to be cleaned up and in order for this to happen, the area needs to be free of those encumbrances.
A short while ago, the man with the Hammer attempted to remove them so as to effect repairs to the road. But he was prevented from doing so by the same forces that like to make excuses that encourage street vending.
There should be no street vending in Guyana today, at least not in the city, where the government spent hundreds of millions of dollars to establish a mall for vendors, and wasted another few millions to asphalt a tarmac for vendors only to learn that the same persons who were claiming that they were mainly single-parents and would starve if not allowed to vend, were not willing to occupy the area that was set aside for them because it was not near to where “the action is.”
The government and municipality combined have made great efforts to help street vendors. All the markets have been extended to allow for additional vending. In some cases, the passageways within the markets have been narrowed to accommodate new vendors. Vendors’ arcades and malls have been established. It would be interesting to learn just how many of the original pavement vendors today actually occupy stalls in the special mall that was paid for by taxpayers for them. How many?
There will continue to be street vending, not because of any social factors, but simply because it is allowed. Once action is not taken against illegal vending, it will continue and Guyanese are very ingenious in staying within the law.
Over the Christmas holiday, a vehicle was parked on the eastern section of King Street, between Robb and Regent Streets. This vehicle was a mobile food outlet, specially designed to drive away at the end of the day. It was parked there all day selling food and attached to it was a generator.
This is the new face of vending. People are no longer setting up trays, they are selling out of million-dollar vehicles, and yet when the authorities move against them, they claim they are poor people trying to make a living.
They should be allowed to make a living, but not on the pavements and not on the streets. For that to happen, at least in the capital city, it will take more than just the dismantling of a few stalls at Stabroek Square.

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