Once again, roadside vending, the bane of every local municipality’s existence, has popped up in the news. This time, it was Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill’s turn to revive the subject and he did so with much sangfroid on Saturday last, telling reporters that he had observed many new vendors along main roads in the city, which could not be condoned and they would have to leave voluntarily or be removed.
Noting that the street vending posed several problems including creating traffic hazards, hampering road repairs and blocking drainage, the minister was dogmatic in his reasoning that options in ICT, agro-processing and construction, as cited by him, were available and the vendors just needed to take advantage of them. Of course, as politicians are wont to do, Minister Edghill was oversimplifying the issue, which is an undesirable approach to take when it comes to street vending. His predecessors and peers in the areas of both Public Works, and Local Government and Regional Development could surely enlighten him about this, if they could just see the light them-selves.
The quote often mistakenly attributed to Albert Einstein: “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results”, could easily have been written to describe the way Guyanese municipalities operate; most particular-ly, the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown.
If one examines street vending, it becomes clear that a host of vendors plying their trade on a main road, do not all show up at once. One seller usually takes the plunge to begin with. When he or she manages to not only take root successfully, but attract clientele and therefore make money, others follow and before long there is a fleet of them. Every city and town council and every subject minister to date have chosen to ignore the lone vendor or two or three who paved the way for the others. Only when there is a multitude of sellers does officialdom take notice, by which time the stage is set for public demonstrations, claims of discrimination and politicization of the issue. This cycle has played out often and in many different locales. As mentioned above, this method of handling street vending is beyond clumsy, it is akin to insanity.
One recognizes that politicians thrive on hearing themselves speak and seeing their words in print. However, rather than make an announce-ment in the press, Mr Edghill could perhaps have gotten on the phone to Mayor Ubraj Narine, who had declared in February this year that he was going to implement a policy to regularise city vending. He is yet to make good on this pro-nouncement. Further, since Mr Edghill believes that the task also requires the involvement of both the Public Works and Local Government minis-tries — and it probably does — he ought to have set up a pow-wow with his fellow Cabinet member, Minister Nigel Dharamlall on the way forward.
Meanwhile, since one of the problems Mr Edghill correctly cited was traffic snagging when drivers stopped to purchase from these vendors, he might have also tried engaging his Home Affairs colleague. A few carefully placed ‘no stopping’ signs, with strict enforcement by traffic officers on site would easily clear that up. It could possibly also alleviate, if not completely end, the vending on main thoroughfares. If no one can stop to buy, then the spot is no longer a lucrative one, which is why the vendors congregated there in the first place. They will not remain where they cannot transact business.
Instead, having issued his ukase, Mr Edghill has, perhaps intentionally, indicated that he is taking the lead in this situation. Besides urging voluntary compliance, he cited using moral suasion, which has not worked in the past, and stated that he was not afraid to use law enforcement, should the need arise.
By now, Mr Edghill should not need reminding that one catches more flies with honey than vinegar. Furthermore, not only do throwing down the gauntlet and muscle flexing fail to endear brash and authoritative leaders to their constituents, but if one listens close enough, one can almost hear opposition politicians sharpening their teeth to rip into this issue. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.
