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Meadow Bank wharf vendors being relocated to facilitate new police outpost
By Alliyah Allicock
Kaieteur News – Some vendors in the vicinity of the Meadow Bank Wharf were relocated yesterday to a more conducive area to facilitate the construction of a new police outpost there.
Some of the stalls at the Meadow Bank wharf that were destroyed yesterday
As reported, during a visit to the wharf last week Thursday, President Irfaan Ali had instructed the Guyana Police Force (GPF) to establish a permanent presence at the location to ensure the safety of those plying their trade and their customers. Yesterday morning some vendors from the area had reached out to this publication and reported that their stalls were being demolished by persons unknown to them. When Kaieteur News visited the scene, more than five stalls were completely dismantled. Frustrated and angry, some of the stall owners told this publication that they were never given any notice or told that their stalls were going to be demolished.
The Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha during his visit yesterday at the wharf.
The Guyana Police Force yesterday preparing the new area where the vendors will be relocated. (GPF photo)
One vendor had told this publication that when she first received the call about stalls being destroyed she immediately left for the wharf. According to her when she got there, she saw some men destroying the stalls and so she informed the other vendors what was going on. “When me first come out me hear the table breaking, and they were breaking up stalls here, meh seh this is me table here and I seh nobody can’t bruk this table hay because I sell hay and I get four children,” the vendor said she told the men.
The vendors reported that nothing of this sort had ever happened to them before and so they were protesting for the relevant authorities to look into their plight. Following the demolishing of the stalls, this publication reached out to the Ministry of Agriculture yesterday for a comment as to where the instruction came from to have the stalls demolished. Minister of Agriculture, Zulfikar Mustapha having received the reports visited the wharf just after noon yesterday and engaged with the vendors. He clarified to them that neither his Ministry nor the President had given any instruction to have the stalles destroyed. “Now nobody send the police to break yall stall, I just spoke with the President and he’s overseas and that’s why I’m here. Between now and this afternoon, the police have to fix back your stalls and they would come here and fix back yall stalls,” he told the vendors.
The Minister also informed the vendors that works were underway to have the area properly improved with lighting facilities, washroom facilities and water. These were plans that the President had spoken about when he had engaged with the vendors. Following the visit by the Minister, the Police Force has since started assisting the vendors to relocate. In a press release police stated that the vendors were being relocated to a more conducive area right in the vicinity of the wharf. According to the police, in the process of setting up their outpost at the wharf, the machines that were used had destroyed some of the stalls. “During the process of preparing the area for the Police Outpost, the machine that was operating accidentally damaged some makeshift stalls in the general vicinity. The owners of these damaged stalls were, understandably, dissatisfied and protested this occurrence,” the GPF stated.
The GPF has since informed that efforts are being made to have the stalls rebuilt so that the vendors can ply their trade from today. “The damaged make-shift stalls are currently being reconstructed to facilitate the fish vendors to continue plying their trade tomorrow (July 26, 2022). Additionally, the police are in contact with the Guyana Power & Light Inc., and the Management of the Meadow Bank Wharf Complex to install other support services such as lights and potable water facilities to enhance the comfort of vendors and customers, and to improve the general safety and security in the area,” the police noted.
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