Vendors with permanent structures on seawall given marching orders by Govt.

Apr 25, 2024 News

Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Public Works (MoPW) Sea Defence Board has issued a notice for vendors with permanent structures within the vicinity of the Georgetown seawalls to remove immediately.

In a media release, the ministry confirmed that the Sea Defence Board commenced its enforcement exercise to address cases of non-compliance by approved business operators at the Georgetown seawalls reserve between Camp Street and the Kitty Roundabout. The ministry said the sea defence board is the statutory body responsible for managing the use of sea and river defence reserves and foreshore lands in accordance with the provisions of the Sea Defence Act.

In this regard, the ministry stressed that the board has historically facilitated applications from individuals and small business enterprises for conducting business activities along the Georgetown Sea Defence reserve between Camp Street and the Kitty Roundabout. At present, the ministry noted that in excess of eighty individuals have been granted approval and a significant number of interested persons continue to engage the Board with expressions of interest and business proposals for consideration.

To ensure that the approved vending activities are conducted in a sustainable manner, the ministry said that all approved vendors are required to comply with stipulated requirements that are tailored to achieving socially and environmentally acceptable conditions in the reserve space generally.

The requirements include the clear stipulation that “the vending structure utilised must be mobile, aesthetically pleasing and modestly sized, not exceeding a plan area of 100ft2. “Acceptable structures include collapsible tents, vending trucks, vending carts and similar structures which can be easily transported. The vending structures and all amenities used must be dismantled and removed from the sea defence reserve daily, at the close of business. Additional requirements are stipulated to ensure acceptable waste disposal and cleanliness of the approved vending space, noise control, 2 acceptable offset from the Seawall Road, traffic safety, and the controlled use of recreational devices and other amenities,” the ministry explained in its release.

However, it pointed out that the Sea Defence Board continues to face significant challenges with noncompliance from approved business operators. “A total of 55 approved vendors are currently operating from semi-permanent and permanent structures that were installed at the sea defence reserve for an indefinite period. These include customised shipping containers and constructed bars that significantly exceed the maximum permissible structure size stipulated by the Board.

Additionally, the storage and accumulation of derelict items and waste continue to have an unfavourable impact on the general aesthetics and cleanliness of the sea defence reserve. In recent months, complaints of noise nuisance associated with the weekend activities along the Georgetown Seawalls have escalated.”

In an effort to address these issues, the MoPW said the Sea Defence Board has repeatedly engaged vendors to reinforce and clarify its requirements. It was pointed out that to improve the general aesthetics and socio-environmental conditions at the Georgetown sea defence reserve, a rigorous enforcement exercise is being undertaken to remove all vending structures that are in non-compliance with the size and portability requirements stipulated by the Board.

As such, the Ministry said additional adjustments will be undertaken to achieve consistency and uniformity in the vending operations in the future. “The Board commenced the first phase of engagements with vendors on Monday last and progressive meetings will be convened in the near future…All affected vendors will be adequately engaged during the implementation of these measures and will be provided with guidance on requirements for their continued operation,” the Ministry said. The MoPW reiterated that the enforcement measures will beneficially improve conditions at the Georgetown seawalls.

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Georgetown, Ministry of Public Works (MoPW), permanent, roundabout, Sea Defence Board

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