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G/T Council still to comply with several orders to prevent vending in front Regent Street stores
Kaieteur News – The Georgetown (G/T) Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is yet to comply with mandamuses (court orders) that outline the prohibition of vending in front of Regent Street stores.
Town Clerk (Ag) Candace Nelson told Kaieteur News that over the years, the Council has received several court orders to stop persons from vending in front of stores located on Regent Street but the body has not really acted on any of them.
Town Clerk (Ag) Candace Nelson.
Nelson said until recently, little to no efforts was made by the Council to stop vending in front of affected stores in spite of court orders directing them to do so. The Town Clerk explained that the recent judgment which was handed down in favour of Shamdas Kirpalani is a classic example.
According to her, the Kirpalanis, who operate out of their 107 Regent Street, Lacytown, Georgetown store, had taken the G/T Council to Court before. She explained that this case was the second case that the store owners brought against the Council.
“This order was to basically compel the Council to remove the vendors since the first court order was not fully complied with…” Nelson said, adding that the Council has several other court orders from other Regent Street stores over the same issue.
The Town Clerk had nonetheless denied that the M&CC had not tried as far as possible to ensure there were no encumbrances on the pavement in store fronts.
Nelson explained in an affidavit in response to the Kirpalani case, that the M&CC tried as far as possible to ensure there were no encumbrances on the pavement and streets in front of the property.
She claimed that the M&CC had taken “practical measures” on a periodic basis to remove vendors from in front of the building. She also claimed that the Town Clerk’s office issued periodic instructions to the City Constabulary to take action against the vendors and that ranks have been going to the area when resources and personnel are available.
Nelson denied the claim that the situation had led to a loss of customers for the business and noted that the applicants had shown no evidence of financial loss.
Last December, High Court Judge Simone Morris-Ramlall had ordered the Town Clerk to instruct the Constabulary of the City of Georgetown to prohibit pavement vending in front of the Shamdas Kirplani store located at 107 Regent Street, Lacytown, Georgetown.
Kanayalal and Meera Kirpalani – the transported owners of the Regent Street property – filed judicial review proceedings against the Town Clerk of the City of Georgetown to have it prevent any person or persons from vending on the pavement in front of the store.
According to the Kirpalanis, the encumbrance of the pavement and road by vendors has, over the years, affected their business. They said that vendors trespass on their property by placing or hanging items on the grillwork of their building and/or by bracing the southern walls of the property. As a result of pavement vending, the Kirpalanis stated that their customers cannot park in front of the store.
Shamdas Kirpalani storeon Regent Street.
“Because of the congestion on the pavement, it attracts pick-pocketing of customers who come to the [store] and also members of the public who are walking on the pavement. There are at times loud speaking and the use of obscenity by some vendors,” they said.
Through Senior Counsel K.A. Juman-Yassin, the Kirpalanis noted that there are on occasions selling of illegal substances such as marijuana as a result of the sellers using the congestion as a cover.
They added that unless vending in front of their store is stopped, they will continue to be inconvenienced and suffer financially losses as potential customers avoid the store because of the pavement/roadside vendors.
In her ruling, Justice Morris-Ramlall held that the Mayor and City Councillors of Georgetown had certain statutory duties under the Municipal and District Councils Act of 28:01 as it relates to regulating vending in the capital city. As such, the Judge granted the orders requested by the Kirpalanis.
In effect, the orders compel the Town Clerk to instruct and/or order the City Constabulary to prevent any person or persons from carrying or placing any receptacles or other articles on the pavement which incommode the store owner’s property and/or other persons in the use of the pavement in front of the building which houses the store.
The Town Clerk was also ordered to pay $100,000 in costs to the Kirpalanis by January 15, 2022.
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