OVER 450 vendors have been registered by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and are now able to legally ply their trade at various spaces around Georgetown.The initiative is part of an effort by the M&CC to regulate and bring order to the vending system in the City.
M&CC’s Public Relations Officer,Debra Lewis,confirmed that vendors have been cooperative and are ensuring that they get registered.
“Persons were given the chance to be registered by the Guyana Revenue Authority and us… upon registering, they received badges that will indicate that they are temporary street vendors, the location they are selling at and what they are selling,” said Lewis.
The arrangement will be applied to all vendors within Georgetown, from Agricola to Cumming’s Lodge, and it will only apply to street vendors and not stallholders.
In recent times, there was ambiguity in the system, allowing everyone to do what they wanted but, the new intervention will ensure that there is order, Lewis said.
Speaking to Guyana Chronicle on Monday, vendors indicated that they welcome the system and do not mind paying a minimal fee every year.
“This will allow us to do our thing without any hassle and help we to identify who selling what and where they selling their stuff,” said one of the vendors who got registered at City Hall.
Although many have been responsive, the M&CC is still calling on others to come out and get registered so that the full effect of the initiative can be felt as soon as possible.
Georgetown’s Mayor Patricia Chase-Green said late last year that “we will take it step by step as we go forward in registering those vendors and have them comply with their medical certificates, with registration, with having their TIN numbers”.
“That is the only way we can bring about some order,” the mayor said, while affirming that “All street vendors must be registered according to the law”.