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City Hall working on finding permanent home for displaced Water Street vendors
Some of the vendors and attorney Nigel Hughes following a meeting at City Hall on Thursday.
Kaieteur News – The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) on Thursday last removed vendors from the vicinity of Popeye’s on Water Street. City Mayor Alfred Mentore told Kaieteur News that the M&CC was compelled to remove the vendors after the Council was served with mandamus order from the High Court instructing its officers to do so.
The vendors told this newspaper that the move was sudden and without notice. “Is just suh we come and here, we got to move from in the front the building no warning nothing and this is our livelihood you talking about,” a female vendor explained.
The vendors noted that they have been paying a fee to the City Hall and are left at a loss when they received sudden marching orders to vacate the area. They are hoping the Council will therefore find a solution to the issue. “A lot of us out here are single parents, we selling because we have children to feed and this is how we can feed and take care of them. The council needs to look into this because we don’t have anywhere else to go …”
Kaieteur News understands that the orders followed an application filed in the High Court by the owners of Popeye’s Guyana Restaurants Inc., RL Singh. Mayor Mentore explained that order is vendors to be removed from the pavements and the streets near the fast-food outlet. The Mayor noted however that while the order to remove vendors from the payment is understandable, the order to have the vendors from the streets of the city is concerning.
“It is a bit concerning because the streets actually for public use and it falls under the control of the council. The roads and the streets should be free for use as long as the vending activities are not blocking, trespassing or encumbering on the public use of the streets, it should not be an issue,” Mentore said while noting the council will have look the issue with a view of finding a course of redress.
In the meantime, the Mayor said that he has since met with the vendors and Mr. Nigel Hughes, Attorney-at-law and Leader for the Alliance For Change towards finding a permanent solution to their vending challenges. Mr. Hughes in a Facebook post noted that he met with the Mayor on behalf of the predominantly female vendors on Water Street.
He noted that the eviction of the vendors will have a harsh impact on their homes and livelihood. “It’s September, school term just began and they are over 90% female and single. In this time of abundance, it can’t be beyond our collective capacities to find a permanent solution to the vending in the city. It was a privilege to have been able to assist in starting the process of identifying a permanent resolution,” Hughes said.
This as the third order of mandamus was to direct the City Council officers to remove, any person or persons on the pavement, street or parapet surrounding of a popular city business. The last two orders were given to vendors around Muneshwers on Water streets and those in the vicinity of Demico House.
On November 3 last, Muneshwers Limited secured similar orders from the High Court requiring the city to remove all encumbrances from the pavement and streets surrounding its Lots 9 and 10 Water, Commerce and Longden Streets premises. As a result, the Georgetown M&CC was compelled to issue notices to vendors as required by Section 10 of the City Government By-Laws and adopted under the Municipal and District Councils Act to remove all pallets, trays, tables, mannequins, barrels, cartons, and other encumbrances from pavements and streets immediately.
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