COVID-19 measures… City Council mulls penalties for errant vendors

Apr 25, 2020 News

The Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is contemplating possible penalties for vendors who continue to disregard precautionary measures set out by the Council and the Ministry of Public Health in light of COVID-19. This is according to City Mayor Ubraj Narine.

City Mayor Ubraj Narine

During an interview with this publication, Narine explained that there are several vendors, primarily in the Stabroek and Bourda Market areas, who have been ignoring precautionary measures and continue to vend without the use of face masks and other necessary safety equipment, as well as ignore sanitary requirements.
He added that given the severity of this issue, the council has begun working towards introducing possible penalties.
Responding to a question about overcrowding as reported by some customers, Narine said that there are measures in place at the Markets to monitor and control crowds. However, he is not aware if there have been any breaches to the existing measures.
“We only have the two main gates operating to control the crowd, and only 15 persons are supposed to be allowed in at a time. As one comes out another is allowed in, but I am not there every day, so I don’t know if anyone has been bending the rules,” he said.
When asked about reports of “one cake of soap” being utilized by all patrons at the market to wash their hands, the Mayor pointed out that this is true, but it only became an option after the bottles of liquid soap placed at the sanitizing facilities began disappearing.
Further, speaking on the vast increase in prices for commodities, Narine said “I can only ask the vendors to be lenient with their prices, but neither the council nor I can control those prices.”
Additionally, the Mayor used the opportunity to clarify claims of $100 charges to enter the markets. He said that the M&CC has not implemented any such measures and that individuals should not pay anyone to enter the markets.
He added that the council will be engaging the services of the market constables to clampdown on anyone doing this.
The Mayor also urged citizens to adhere to the protocols, and to call on each other to do the same, along with the assistance of civil society groups to help to overlook and report any breaches in the measures put in place.

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