Unquestionably, it is a matter of trust. City Hall and particularly Town Clerk Royston King says that the proposed temporary location of the forty or so vendors plying their trade in both Robb Street and Bourda Street in proximity to the long-abandoned Bedford Methodist School has to do with the Council’s desire to have the structure torn down on the grounds that it has become unsafe for the vendors. It would seem, however, that a handful of the more militant vendors are suspicious of this development, convinced that once they are removed the spots which they have occupied for more than two decades will be lost to them forever.
By last weekend the matter had been reduced to a tense standoff. Stabroek Business has been reliably informed that the building is now in private hands and that when, two Mondays ago, the owner turned up to put his pre-demolition plans in place the vendors simply stood their ground.
When this newspaper spoke with City Hall on Monday it was told that since then the vendors had been locked in discussion with City Mayor Hamilton Green.
