Recently, a number of stall holders in the vicinity of the New Linden Hospital Complex and others along the Washer Pond Road, commonly called ‘the Five Corner,’ were issued notices by the Ministry of Public Works indicating that they were required to remove structures which were erected on government reserves within two weeks.
The letter stated, “The property or structure on which this violation notice is affixed is found to be infringing on the public road reserve and the owner/s is instructed to remove same within 14 days of this posting of this notice. Failure to comply with the notice will result in such obstruction being removed and proceeding being brought against you in accordance with the section 29 of the roads Act chapter 51:01 of the Law of Guyana.”
The notice had caught the attention of the LSC and the Linden Town Council who both described the move as high-handed. A public meeting was held on Sunday by the LSC to address the matter. There, several of the stall holders said that the notice came as a total surprise and they appealed for high levels of representation.
The ministry has said on several occasions that it intends to clear government reserves of unauthorized structures.
According to one stall holder who operates in the vicinity of the New LHC, they were given the go-ahead to construct their shop by the Hospital’s Chief Executive Officer Gordon Gumbs, who had the blessings of the Town Council. This was substantiated by Interim Management Committee Chairman Orrin Gordon, who told the Stabroek News that the council was approached by Gumbs. He said that Gumbs had indicated the importance and need to have the food stalls in the location since there were no provisions made for a canteen at the new hospital.
According to Gordon, the council granted the hospital’s management their request under the condition that the stalls be constructed uniformly. This request was honoured. As it related to those on the ‘Five Corner,’ Gordon said that the land is owned by Linmine. Some years ago, the stall holders were taken to court for occupying the area. The court had ordered that the council, Linmine and the stall holders resolve the matter out of court. Linmine subsequently granted permission to the stall holders to utilize a section of the area.
Gordon described the action of the Ministry as being ‘high-handed,’ since they did not see it fit to engage the Town Council prior to issuing the notices. He said that recently he was forced to approach the ministry when the sign boards along Highway were removed. “They apologized saying that they did not remember to inform us of their intended decision. Now they did it again and we consider this as being very high-handed,” said Gordon.
He noted that the matter was discussed at an extraordinary sitting of the Town Council where a decision was taken to work with those targeted by the government ministry. Currently they are in the process of securing the maps of the locations to determine the boundaries of the state reserves. He said that once this is established the council would assist in removing the stall to organize them on the council’s land.
On the other hand, Chairman of the LSC Phillip Bynoe said that his organization would not sit idly by and allow “state powers which are in the wrong hands” to operate in an inhumane manner to put struggling persons out of bread. He said that they are a number of steps that could have been taken in addressing the matter. According to Bynoe, LSC would seek to establish a special committee consisting of representatives from the Town Council, the RDC, LSC, Linmine, Lands and Survey and Central Housing and Planning Authority. This committee, he hoped, would sit and brainstorm a realistic location for the establishment of a mall to accommodate stall owners, especially those along Winifred Gaskin Highway at Wismar. “It is only under those conditions they would be moved,” declared Bynoe.
It was unclear whether businesses along the Winifred Gaskin Highway were served notices. Some stall owners along several other roadways turned up for Sunday’s meeting since they felt that they would be soon targeted by the Ministry.
