—Constables remove vendors despite new national emergency order

VENDORS, especially those at the La Penitence Market, were confused, on Sunday morning, when they showed up for work and constables from the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) started taking away their goods and ordering them to leave.

To their knowledge, an order from the Ministry of Public Health should have permitted them to operate from 06:00 hours to 17:00 hours. Chief Constable (ag), Peter Livingston, was on the scene around 07:00 hours, in company with other constables, ordering vendors to pack up. He told the Guyana Chronicle that he was unaware of the Ministry’s order, and that he was working with those from the M&CC.

“The Council would have ordered that all municipal markets and vending operations in and around the city of Georgetown cease with effect from Friday 19:00 hours; that’s last Friday. Today we are here because these people have not complied with that order and we have to ensure that they comply.” Asked for clarification on whether the constables were acting correctly, Mayor Ubraj Narine told this publication he does not wish to comment at the moment. Town Clerk (ag) Sherry Jerrick could not be reached for comment.
Solid Waste Management Director, Walter Narine, opined that the vendors should not have been at the market, in keeping with the Mayor’s announcement last Friday of the closure of the various municipal markets.

According to Narine, since the markets fall under the ambit of the municipality, they have to be guided by the mayor’s announcement. In other words, the order from the Health Ministry does not supersede that of the council, he said.
Meanwhile, vendors cried out that they were not told anything by the City Council to the effect that they should not turn up Sunday morning, and they will subsequently suffer heavy losses.

“We already bought the stuff for Sunday. All this banana was green and we put it to ripe to sell today. Who will give me back 250,000? I got two children, who will help me? Up to yesterday, I hear on the radio that we can vend legally, but now they are demanding that we move,” Kamlawattie Persaud, called Baby, told Chronicle.
She said she spoke to a constable at Leonora Market on Saturday who told her that it was ok for her to sell on Sunday. “But I don’t know what is this. The girl (constable) carry away two scales for me.”

Another vendor close by offered that the City Council should have given the vendors a notice that they should not turn up. “You can’t just come and take away people stuff like that,” he said.

“They come without any notice and start pulling down we umbrellas. They didn’t come and tell us anything. How we will live if we don’t sell? Is one-day market out here,” another constable expressed.

Other vendors alleged that the constables assaulted a bus driver, dragging him on the road, and even pulled a gun on one of the vendors.
One female constable could be heard saying: “Y’all getting stupid. If you don’t want to move, I would throw all them thing in the gutter.”
Another female constable said, “I does only talk one time,” with one vendor responding, “But you made sure you done shop up your fruits and vegetables though,” referring to the bags she was carrying.