Vendors plying their trade on the Merriman Mall between Orange Walk and Cummings Street were yesterday barred from entering that area and called on President David Granger and others to intervene but the mayor says they have to clean up their act before they will be allowed to return.
Yesterday, when vendors turned up to sell, they found themselves barred from the site with barricades manned by city police in place. Some vendors said they only learnt of the city council’s edict from reading it in the Stabroek News. Stabroek News reported yesterday that City Hall plans to permanently end vending along that section of the Merriman Mall.
This decision comes two months after the council asked those wholesalers who plied their trade in the area to move east and operate at what was once the “skating rink” to facilitate the creation of a car park to ease congestion in the city.
When contacted by Stabroek News, Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green said he is not aware of any plans to permanently end vending at the site.
Yesterday, after being blocked from entering the area, the angry vendors marched to the Ministry of the Presidency and called on the president to intervene. The disgruntled vendors stood outside the complex for approximately two hours but got no response.
According to a vendor, Geeta (only name given), she related their issue to an official within the Ministry. She said after speaking to the official, he responded that his office would keep in contact with her. However, she said, they did not receive any concrete response.
Another vendor Melissa Roberts told Stabroek News that she spent 32 years selling at the location. When she turned up yesterday, she related, she was told that they could not sell there any longer. According to Roberts, she is member of
