Easter Monday celebration - City Mayor, police clash over revenue collection

Easter Monday celebration – City Mayor, police clash over revenue collection

Apr 22, 2014 News

The fun and frolic which traditionally surrounds the Easter Monday activities were marred yesterday by a faceoff between the Georgetown Mayor and law enforcement officers, over persons occupying sections of the Georgetown Seawalls.
While families lined sections of the seawalls participating in kite flying activities yesterday afternoon, two van loads of police ranks and City Constabulary officers swooped down and attempted to forcibly remove anyone who had erected a structure, demanding that they pay a fee.
This included small scale vendors and families nestled under tents and make shift structures.

Police and city constabulary vehicles parked along Rupert Craig Highway as they engaged in confrontation with citizens for occupying the spots.

The contention of the officials was that payments should have been made to City Hall for occupying the vicinity and those that had not done so were in contravention.
However, their attempts met with firm resistance from City Mayor Hamilton Green and a group of Councilors who claimed to have ‘stumbled upon incident. ’ They instructed the people to ‘stand their ground.’
“We just came out here and happened to witness what the people were facing first hand and therefore we decided to intervene and put a stop to it. We were told that they have been harassing people here all day… this sort of behavior has dampened the usual celebration that takes place here every Easter. I have an example of a man who came here all the way from the Corentyne. He has a pretty large family. He had to pay $20,000 to erect his canopy to enjoy and partake in the celebrations.”
Yesterday’s showdown is the offshoot of controversy surrounding the payment for the occupation of spots along the seawall route on the Rupert Craig Highway.
Last week, M&CC officials were at loggerheads over whether persons should pay to use the seawalls.
However, this newspaper was told that despite lack of consensus on the matter, the Town Clerk instructed the law enforcement officers to remove persons who did not pay to occupy the area.
Mayor Green had initially instructed the public not to pay a cent for spots on the seawall on Easter Monday, while Town Clerk (Ag), Carol Sooba insisted that citizens must pay
“The Council had held talks and decided that people must not pay for occupying the section of the seawall but it appears as though the Town Clerk has instructed the officers of the City Constabulary, under the command of Gordon Langevine to do otherwise. They seem to be ambiguous about their role as they are unresponsive and uncaring to the instruction of Council because they all seem to be afraid of this strange person. The officers are in very brutal manner attempting to remove small scale vendors and other persons who are occupying the area …they are demanding as much as $10,000 from a woman with a little tray, which is pretty absurd,” the Mayor explained.
The officers were reportedly requesting payments ranging from $ 10,000 to $20,000 per spot from those occupying the area for commercial purposes or otherwise.
A vendor and mother of three expressed gratitude to the Councilors for their intervention, as she explained that she would have lost her entire investment.

Some of the stalls which the officers attempted to remove

“Is every year we does come out here with we children and sell couple small things like drink and so and if we gotta pay we does pay a $2000 or $1500 to the Council but this year they want $10,000. If I pay that I would not leff with nothing so I grateful for what the council fuh what they do.”
Last week Local Government Minister Norman Whittaker told media operatives that he is prepared to recant the Town Clerk’s decision if it was found that she was selling the space without the permission of City Hall.
“I have learnt that it is not a Council decision. In that respect, our intention is to engage the Town Clerk on the matter, but for now, I am guided by what is in the press. If it is not a Council decision, we will be engaging the Town Clerk to find out whether what was reflected in the press is true, and if it is correct, then we will ask the Town Clerk to reverse that decision,” Whittaker explained.
However, the Minister was unavailable for a further comment on the issue yesterday.
Last February, the Town Clerk took similar action during the Mashramani celebrations, claiming that more revenue was needed to be raised for the cash-strapped Council. The exorbitant prices resulted in large companies pulling out from occupying the popular Merriman’s Mall.