Vendors to be relocated for Bourda Street repairs

Aug 07, 2017 News

Bourda Street, Georgetown which has not been repaired or resurfaced in a number of years will undergo some much needed repairs soon, says Mayor of Georgetown Patricia Chase-Green and Town Clerk Royston King.
In order to facilitate the rehabilitation works which will be done by the Ministry of Public Infrastructure, vendors along Bourda Street will be temporarily relocated along Regent Street, Georgetown. Vendors were informed of this during a recent discussion held at City Hall with Mayor Chase-Green and the Town Clerk.
King pointed out that Bourda Street is in a very unsafe and unhealthy state and vendors will be removed to ensure proper infrastructural works are done.
He explained that it also harmful for the vendors to remain there while repairs are ongoing.
“There is an environmental condition that you couldn’t have stall holders working there while the men are applying the material to the road. It is not healthy. They can have all kinds of respiratory problems and we don’t want that to happen. We are very, very concerned about the health and safety of our citizens.”
Before closing off Bourda Street, a road owned by City Council, King said that the Traffic Department and City Constabulary will be notified.
Before relocating the vendors, the Mayor said that the City Council has to consult with the Traffic Department for permission to close off sections of Regent Street.
The Mayor, however, could not say whether the vendors will be allowed to erect permanent stalls or if they will have to occupy tents and sheds when they are placed along Regent Street.
Repair works on the road will be done in phases and are mostly likely to begin in September.
“In the interim, we don’t want you (vendor) to lose your earnings. And that is why we are looking at places to relocate you.”
“Once that is done we will construct some temporary stalls and whatever we do they will not be makeshift stalls because we are moving away from makeshift operations in the city and we are trying to make the city look more modern. We don’t want the city to look like a Shanty Town. We suggested to them (vendors) that we also reconstruct stalls along Bourda Street, to which they will return,” King pointed out.

Mayor of Georgetown Patricia Chase-Green

Town Clerk: Royston King

King disclosed that City Council will undertake the building of the stalls through a public/private partnership with one of their business partners.
“….We will move ahead to construct those stalls. Of course you know those things have to be properly tendered…and we are now looking at the process of tendering because we want to get it out in time so that we can finish before the end of this year.”
The stalls will be of a certain standard in terms height and width.
City Council has decided to undertake building the stalls after considering that some vendors may be unable to afford the cost, or be able to do so within a certain time.
In giving a scenario, the Town Clerk stated that those vendors who are “better off” will have their stalls completed while others will not have theirs properly completed and still want to continue selling. “So you will have a ….shanty kind of arrangement even though we would have repaired the roads.”
But once the vendors move back to Bourda Street, they will be required to pay increased stall rental feed. The current fee stands at $700 weekly.

Bourda Street which is to be rehabilitated

Mayor Chase-Green warned that failure to pay the fees will result in repossession of the stalls.
Most of the vendors accepted that the existing conditions under which they work are not favourable. They were urged by Mayor Chase-Green to cooperate with City Council to aid with having the works completed in a timely manner.

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