City will only find spots for registered vendors -Mayor

Mayor Patricia Chase-Green on Monday declared that the City Council would no longer seek to find places for displaced vendors who have not been registered with the city.

“I have been receiving complaints from vendors that they have not been relocated… we have a list and that is the list we will deal with… the rest would have to find spots,” she declared.

The Mayor added that some displaced barbers and cosmetologists would also have to look for their own spots to operate and can no longer operate on the street corners and pavements. She added that operating in an open environment is illegal and a health violation.

According to her, the city does not have the space and money to invest in providing places for persons to operate.

In the past weeks, the council has been moving to relocate vendors and others who offered services roadside around the Stabroek Market Square, which it is working to resurface and reorganize. City Hall said it intends to transform not just the appearance but also the ambience of the area.

However, the manner in which the City Council has proceeded has been met with protests and court injunctions from displaced vendors and those facing eviction.

Minibus and car parks were also removed from the square.

Vendors from the Stabroek Market Square and surrounding areas have been relocated to a lot south of the Public Buildings, while some barbers and beauticians were moved to the Merriman Mall, between Cummings and Light streets. Both groups have been told that they are permitted to ply their trade for a three-month period.

On Thursday last, City Councillors were supposed to have met to discuss permanent relocation of the vendors but this did not happen. No date has been set as yet to discuss the issue.

It was expected that the council would have looked at the recommendations in Professor Akhtar Khan’s Greater Georgetown Development Plan, which was done in 2002 and discuss the possibilities of also relocating the bus and car parks from the Stabroek Market Square permanently.

For years, the City Council has faced difficulty preventing vendors from selling on the pavements and street corners in the city.