– M&CC officials
THE responsible division of the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has current mechanisms in place to deal with crowd control in the various municipal markets. This was disclosed by Clerk of Markets, Mr. Schulder Griffith, who told the Guyana Chronicle, by telephone yesterday, that the arrangements have been working and, although adequate security cannot be realised, there is still a good number of personnel around those locations.
He said, due to late shopping leading up to Christmas this weekend, some people want to get into the markets past closing time.
The Stabroek Market is still dealing with the effects of the last high tide while another is expected, again, this week.
According to Griffith, some vendors have developed the habit of drying soaked merchandise and selling them; others have opted to build higher stalls and more have requested additional storage space, which has been granted.
Meanwhile, Chief Constable, Andrew Foo said the constabulary has a team to regulate what is happening in view of the increased number of sellers on the streets.
He said the ranks, though limited, are on hand to regulate what is happening and ensure that those selling do not block walkways and there are no other obstructions.
Foo said the constabulary is constrained, in terms of resources and is not capable to place the kind of presence it would like to have.
The M&CC announced, last week, that it has instituted a Christmas cleansing fee for vending on its parapets and other thoroughfares for the festive season.
Vendors plying their trade in Regent Street, sections of Water and Robb Streets and Stabroek Front will be required to pay $14,000 for two weeks.
The objective is to allow vendors to share in the cost to collect garbage in those areas and the charge is being handled by the Markets Department.
At the end of any business day, large amounts of wrappings and other packaging materials could be seen in different sections of the main commercial areas.
As a result, council said it is forced to deploy extra trucks and other resources to manage the additional waste generated by sellers.