Mayor commits to meeting with Market Vendors’ Union

Jan 12, 2019 News

Mayor Ubraj Narine says that he considers it his duty to meet with the President of the Guyana Market Vendors’ Union (GMVU), and that he will ensure he abides by that.
The union has been lobbying the city for meetings to be held so that they could air their concerns in the interest of those who felt that they are being unfairly treated by the council. The Market Vendors’ Union President, Eon Andrews, said that for about 3 years, the Council has not met with him, since the union was rendered illegitimate.
Asked whether the council will meet with the union, Mayor Narine said, “Yes, I’m a politician but, sitting in this chair, it is my duty to call upon the Union President as a courtesy. I will work with him hand-in-hand to build the city.”
“I will work with each and every citizen of Georgetown, to build Georgetown.”
For years, the city has received complaints that members of the council are not just treating them unfairly with regards to the allocation of stalls, but that they are victimizing them because of personal grievances. Vendors have complained that their allotted stalls were abruptly moved, destroyed, or that their goods were taken away by City Police.

Members of the market union launched in 2016. At centre is President Eon Andrews.

Vice President of the Guyana Market Vendors’ Union (GMVU) Carol Carter, in September last, had accused the Georgetown Mayor and City Council of ignoring complaints that she made, including some that were made against the council and its subsidiaries. She made the charges while giving evidence at the Commission of Inquiry into the Affairs of the Council.
Carter had shared what she said were her own experiences of having her stall at the Stabroek Market with goods being seized. She had written to the then Town Clerk, Royston King, the Chairman of the Market Committee, all of the city councillors and the then Mayor Patricia Chase-Green. Carter believed that she was being persecuted because of her membership on the Guyana Market Vendors’ Union.