Vendors accuse City Hall of making empty promises
By Desiree Jodah
Vendors who have been prevented from selling on Regent Street by a court order have accused some City Hall officials of frustrating them over the years with empty promises. They have vowed to continue protesting. President Bharrat Jagdeo reportedly spoke with some of the vendors who had gathered once again in front of Freedom House yesterday. However, the vendors were mum about their discussion with the President. Spokesperson for the vendors, Ansa Amin, said that over the last week reports from City Hall made them out to be villains. However, he said, incidents over the last couple of years have frustrated the vendors. Amin said that when Mayor Hamilton Green took office in 1992 and the issue of the pavement vendors came up, they were called to a meeting. He said that after several meetings with Mayor and City Council (M&CC) officials, they were offered space on the Merriman's Mall and sold collapsible stalls at $20,000 each. The spokesman said the vendors did not occupy these stalls because the council did not put in the promised infrastructure, such as water and toilet facilities. Amin said after the stalls were not occupied, they were removed and dumped and persons who were not Regent Street vendors constructed permanent concrete structures which they now occupy. The man said that following this, the M&CC then offered the Regent Street vendors space on Orange Walk and Bourda Street. He said vendors were asked to pay the sum of $90,000 for the construction of one stall. Amin produced a receipt for the sum of $180,000 which was paid to a former City Hall official. He said that other vendors also paid over money for the construction of the stalls. According to Amin when the space was allocated, it was discovered that the majority had been given to persons who never vended on Regent Street. Vendors were prevented from occupying the newly constructed stalls because the Central Housing and Planning Authority had obtained an injunction against City Hall preventing it from going ahead with the planned relocation. Amin said when it was realised that all the vendors on Regent Street could not be relocated to Orange Walk and Bourda Street, the M&CC issued identification cards for the remaining ones. He said the sum of $2,000 was paid for the cards and vendors were allowed to vend on Regent Street under the condition that they removed their stalls in the evening and kept their surroundings clean. He admitted that they were supposed to have ensured that no new vendor occupied the pavement. However, he said, this became impossible for the new vendors all produced identification cards, although there had been a cut-off point for the issuance of the cards. Vendors produced receipts for the sum of $1,000 per week, which stated that the money was for cleansing fees. Amin said the vendors had objected to the words, "cleansing fee," since they were charged $1,000 per pallete space. He said it could not be a cleansing fee if the council was charging vendors per pallete space. He reasoned that it had to be a rent. The man said that after this objection was made last year, they stopped receiving receipts. He said the constable came around with a box into which they had to put the money. Amin said vendors had expended large sums of money to be able to ply their trade and make an honest living. He said they would not give up until they were allowed to sell and suitable relocation arrangements made for them. At 1430 hrs many of the vendors were still camped out in front of the Acme Photo studio.
 Follow the goings-on in Guyana
|