Roadside vendors still unwilling to occupy market tarmacs
MARKET tarmacs are still in limited use, partially because several roadside vendors are unwilling to relocate to them after the structures were constructed by government.
The only one being used fully is at Charity in Region Two (Pomeroon/Supenaam), Permanent Secretary within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Mr. Nigel Dharamlall said last week Tuesday.
Speaking with the Guyana Chronicle, at the Ministry in Kingston, Georgetown, he said the move to a new location is really creating concerns for vendors.
“Many want to move, some don’t. But that’s the culture of how things are done sometimes,” Dharamlall remarked.
He said:” We’re working with them and we hope good sense will prevail very shortly and we don’t have to go and physically remove them. It is a work in progress and we’ve been encouraging people to start moving.”
Local Government Minister Kellawan Lall signed contracts, on October 12, 2009, for construction of tarmacs at Enmore, East Coast Demerara; Best/Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara and De Willem, West Coast Demerara, with contractors undertaking to complete the work in three months.
The Enmore job was awarded to K.B and B Contractors, from De Hoop, Mahaica, also on the East Coast Demerara. The 77 metres by 62 metres structure cost $29,130,688.
The one at De Willem went to Eagle Transportation and General Construction Limited for $7,984,735 and at Best/Pouderoyen to Annirud Ramcharitar, for $29,983,250.
Minister Lall, underscoring the need for the tarmacs, noted that various markets were overflowing and comfortable venues must be made available for buying and selling.
He pointed out that stallholders were not only being removed from the streets but directed to facilities in which they could conduct their business.
The minister said the tarmacs are intended to be used also for community activities but were organised under the market rules for residents to be able to obtain quality foods.
Those vending alongside the Vreed-en-Hoop Public Road were given a deadline in April to relocate to the newly built Phoenix Park facility, West Bank Demerara.
Chairman of Region Three (Essequibo Islands/West Demerara), Mr. Julius Faerber had informed the vendors that those who complied would pay no market fees for two weeks but the Regional Administration and the Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) would take appropriate action against those who failed to comply.
Faerber said the vendors posed a threat, not only to road users but to themselves, as well. He reminded that it is illegal to sell alongside the roadway but, to date, stalls are still lining the Vreed-en-Hoop thoroughfare.