Dear Editor,

THE Mayor and Councillors of the City of Georgetown ought to be ashamed of themselves for the eyesore they have created on the Merriman Mall, where they have placed a number of itinerant barbers, hairdressers, cosmetologists and tattoo artists.When one passes along Church Street or North Road, very close to a fast food tent called ‘The Jerk Hut’, which should not have been there either, one cannot help but notice how close in proximity it is to ‘Barbers Row’ from where hair and nail clippings are flying, grimy footbath water is lying in pools etc.

But it is the appearance of Barbers Row that is most shocking. There itinerant vendors were provided with some cheap and flimsy tents that are all now broken, faded, and in a dreadful state, having withstood the vagaries of the weather. In order to keep things together and to protect themselves from the rain, these vendors had to bring in pallets and old pieces of wood, old plastic sheets, pieces of metal etc.

Without proper infrastructure, like plumbing, vendors sometimes resort to using flying toilets, which are just plastic bags filled with hair, finger and toe nails, cotton pads, etc, which can be tossed into the canal. This area is just hazardous on an environmental level, and should immediately be shut down by the City’s Medical Officer of Health.

For persons who do not know what the term ‘Slumming’ means, then they can just go to the Merriman’s Mall Barbers Row for an education.

Regards,
SEAN MONIZ