Intervention by President Bharrat Jagdeo will see the resumption of vending at the Stabroek Market square, two days after vendors were told by government ministers that they could no longer sell in the area following the detonation of a grenade.
President Jagdeo told the Government Information Agency (GINA) after meeting with some 81 vendors at the Office of the President (OP) that he consented to the meeting, which the vendors requested “to ensure that we balance law and order with the ability of people to earn a living.” According to Jagdeo the vendors made the request on Thursday.
He said he agreed to the meeting because he was “very concerned about public safety.”
On Wednesday, a homeless man called ‘American’ died after a grenade detonated in the busy Stabroek Market square. The explosion injured 18 others. The president told GINA that every step is being taken to get to the bottom of the incident. “I have instructed the Commissioner of Police, Chief of Staff, the Minister of Home Affairs… we have to find answers because it is very important for public safety.”
Following Wednesday’s explosion, vendors were told that they were no longer allowed to vend in the area. This triggered a large protest in front of various government ministries and City Hall the next day.
Protest action continued yesterday by a smaller group of vendors who protested in front of the Local Govern-ment Ministry and the Works Ministry.
However it was broken up by the police who told them that the protest was not legal. The vendors eventually packed up and went away. At 3 pm yesterday, 81 of them met with the president.
‘Certain standards’
According to Corwin Wright, one of the vendors who attended the meeting, “He (Jagdeo) told us we have to maintain certain standards such as cleaning the area and from six to six all structures must be moved.” But Wright noted that that was the arrangement the vendors always had.
Jagdeo however told GINA that for some time now there has been concern about the level of criminality and the illegal activities that people conduct at the market square.
He noted that vendors had brokered an agreement with the Ministry of Local Government and City Council “about some order [for] selling in that area.” “Unfortunately, there was a breach of this so when I met with the vendors today I said to them that we are not retreating from this. We have to ensure that they clean up the area, [so] we bring back law and order to that area, [and] we stop the illegal activities there. But I also said to them that I want to ensure that they continue to earn a living,” he also said after the meeting.
Meanwhile, vendors were grateful for the President’s intervention. Wright said, “I am happy… is like a whole burden come off me.”
He commended the President “for intervening and making such a positive decision.” His sentiments were echoed by other vendors as well. “I feel good; excellent,” said one vendor upon learning that she could resume activities. Many said that vending is their sole means of income. Most of them are women, who are single parents.
Before they resume vending, the vendors have to meet with the Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall to work out the agreement. Although stalls were demolished and vendors were told they were not allowed to vend, yesterday afternoon some were seen selling their wares without their stalls.
Disregard for
City Council
Prior to yesterday’s OP meeting, an extraordinary statutory meeting was held by the Mayor and City Council and councillors were very vocal in their dissatisfaction over the manner in which the removal of vendors was handled. “Something is wrong about the way we do things.
Nobody in all of this had the decency to call the Mayor and say look we have instructions to do this,” Councillor Oscar Clarke said.
The Town Clerk and the City Engineer came under heavy criticism for their failure to notify the council. Both were notably absent from yesterday’s meeting. The Town Clerk asked to be excused because she had a funeral to attend and the City Engineer did not show up.
The few councillors present at the hastily-called meeting were furious at the actions that were taken by the Town Clerk.
It is believed that the Town Clerk, acting on directives from the Local Government Ministry, passed down the decision to the City Engineer and constables to demolish vendors’ stalls on Wednesday night. “The Town Clerk and Engineer… they are answerable to us. They must interface with us,” a livid Councillor Gwendolyn McGowan said. “We are 30 councillors; the people out there are accusing us of moving them when you have two officers standing in place of us.”
It was agreed by the council that the officers would be given a chance to reply at Monday’s statutory meeting before any action is taken. The brief meeting was convened so that the Mayor could attend the meeting at the Office of the President. But Green told this paper last evening that an invitation to the meeting was sent to the Deputy Mayor Robert Williams. Green said that when he attended, he was told that his name was not on the list to meet the president.
Green said that the action by OP, bypassing the Mayor, was “the greatest level of vulgarity I have ever seen” and he added that it was a “breach of protocol and decency.”
