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ELECTED TO SERVE, NOT MISTREAT

May 25, 2016 Editorial, Features / Columnists

Many Guyanese, particularly non-vendors and those overseas have welcomed the decision by the Georgetown City Council to remove the vendors who for years have crowded the Stabroek Market Square. It is an historic area that needs to be kept clean and accessible to the public in emergency situations, especially the Fire Station which is located adjacent to the market.
Others question whether it was a wise decision by the City Council, which claimed that its aim is to help to reduce crimes in the area and unclog the drains as part of the clean-up campaign in the city?
While some claimed that it is meant to be more attractive tourists and prospective investors, it came at a time when the economy is shaky, jobs are scarce and many, especially the poor are suffering.
However, the government had options. It could have provided the vendors with alternative sites to ply their trade long in advance, rather than the short notice and abrupt destruction of their rickety stalls. The actions by the City has a number of vendors disappointed and many alleging political betrayal by a government and a City Council they claimed they voted for.
Those who spearheaded the operation are convinced that they have done the right thing in preserving the Stabroek Market Square as part of the 50th independence anniversary celebrations. They appeared hardly worried about a political backlash from the vendors who complained that they would end up being jobless and would not enjoy the good life that was promised by the government.
However, it is mind-boggling to reflect on the goodwill and confidence that the majority of citizens had placed in the government a year ago and recently in the City Council. They wanted change from the corrupt and dictatorial governance of the past. Thus, the coalition was swept into power. But, the new government gave a new meaning to the adage “a new broom sweeps clean.”
One did not have to be a seer to know that the writing was on the wall for the removal of the vendors. It is clear that the destruction of their stalls was not only orchestrated by the City Council but also by the government as part of its clean-up campaign for the independence anniversary celebrations. But the method used to remove the vendors is unsavory.
City officials could have done a much better job in regularizing vending through a consultative and collaborative process, instead of making the vendors the scapegoats of the independence celebrations. Many were paying taxes and were small business investors and should be recognized as part of the country’s economic activity. Removing them in such a cavalier manner could have a negative impact on the already ailing economy.
Stabroek Market is overcrowded. It was built 135 years ago to house a certain number of vendors. Today, that number has increased fivefold and the City has not been able to accommodate them. The gross incompetence displayed by the City in handling the issue from time immemorial is the reason that we have reached this point. If it is true, for instance, that the vendors’ areas were enabling criminals to act with impunity, then why the City did not remove them long before? Were the vendors involved in criminal activities? This has not been established.
Contrary to what City officials have stated, vendors are not a nuisance to society. Their ability to create employment for themselves and others at a time when jobs are scarce and unemployment is high should at least be respected. In many ways it is wrong for City officials to take bread out of the mouths of the vendors, without properly considering alternatives. After all, they were elected to serve them, too, and not mistreat them.

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