A shop at every corner, in every street and in every village

May 24, 2011 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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Once a society begins to bend the rules, there is a greater tendency for these rules to be broken. And if these rules constitute law, then such societies are bound to be characterised by high levels of illegal activity.
A few nights ago, a shopkeeper, was gunned down while attending to a customer. According to reports, it was 2 in the morning and the shop was said to open all night.
The opening hours of shops, stores and businesses are regulated by statute. There are fixed opening and closing hours. Yet this aspect of the law is openly flouted. Just take a stroll on any Sunday and you will find many businesses, including clothing stores open. You will also find pavement vendors plying their wares.
Despite laws prohibiting selling outside of approved hours, these laws are generally ignored and therefore what eventually happens is that the law is no longer there to protect anyone when protection is needed.
It was also reported that on Sunday morning, gunmen shot at a newly opened establishment at seven in the morning. Now why would such an establishment be open at such an early hour? It is most likely that it was never closed since the night before, and persons were simply allowed to party all night long.
The police, as we know, cannot be everywhere at the same time and the lack of social controls, the failure of the authorities to ensure that certain regulations and laws are adhered to is leading to a great deal of problems for our lawmen.
These problems are being compounded because shops are being allowed to open all around the country, instead of being in designated locations which would allow for the law enforcement agencies to better police these locations.
It is impossible for the police to effectively monitor all the locations in which can be found grocers, beer gardens, and supermarkets, but if these businesses were restricted strictly to designated commercial zones, better security plans could be had.
Before any calls are made for the police to do more to halt the run-away crime that is taking place in Guyana, there needs to be an investigation as to how all these shops and businesses are being given permission to operate particularly in residential areas where they are not supposed to be established.
A few weeks ago, the Alliance for Change was protesting dust pollution in the Cane Grove area. It needs to be questioned as to the wisdom in the first place of allowing a rice mill in close proximity to a community.
These things should never have been permitted in the first place and the government should take steps to end this practice. The establishment of shops alongside major public roads such as the East Bank Public Road is creating obstructions and congestion on this roadway since the parking of vehicles narrow the roadway and slows the flow of traffic.
In almost all of the major housing schemes in Guyana, businesses are opening up. How are these businesses being licensed if they do not have the requisite permits from the planning agencies? This is a matter of grave concern because these schemes were intended to provide housing and not to provide housing and businesses.
In fact, there are usually specific clauses in the agreements which prohibit businesses. Yet these businesses proliferate in these schemes. As a means of discouraging such activity in housing schemes there should be a separate tariff, say ten times the normal rate which should be applicable, but it would be much better if there was stricter enforcement of these regulations.
When there is unplanned development, it breeds problems. The members of a community are a greater risk of gunmen whenever there is attack on a shop of business and if a member of the public happens to be in a shop at the same time that a robbery is taking place, it places that person’s life at risk.
The job of the police is made far more difficult because they simply cannot plan to exercise control over all areas in which there are businesses.
Something also needs to be done about the opening hours of businesses. The laws need to be complied. There needs to be fixed opening and closing hours for businesses. The world is not going to end if shops have to close at a prescribed hour.
However, it makes no sense forcing shops to close at a fixed time when vendors are allowed to work as they please. The law has to be enforced and enforced even-handedly. When this is done the law would be better able to protect all citizens.
As it stands at present, crime is taking a heavy toll on our country with armed robberies occurring every day and in the process persons are either injured or killed, something that a country like Guyana can ill-afford.

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