BEGINNING September and likely continuing through the ‘Christmas Season’, some Bourda Street vendors will be allowed to sell on Regent Street, on the pavement just in front of Bourda Market.

This temporary arrangement will be facilitated by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC), which is seeking to construct stalls, the likes of those outside of the Guyana Post Office (GPOC) at Bourda Street.

According to reports received, the Bourda Street vendors between Regent and Robb Streets will be allowed to sell on the pavement in front of the market during the first phase of the project.

The rest of the vendors, between Robb Street and North Road, will be accommodated on the pavement during the second phase, after the first set of vendors would have returned to their original spots on Bourda Street.

According to M&CC’s Public Relations Officer, Debra Lewis, temporary stalls on the pavement will be constructed after consultation with the traffic department.

The Ministry of Infrastructure stands ready to offer assistance, she said.

The new stalls on Bourda Street will be constructed by the M&CC in collaboration with a private partner, Lewis disclosed, and hence the stalls will be owned by the City Council.

Vendors will now have to pay an increased rent and will also have to secure their electricity.

Meanwhile, the M&CC wants to erect stalls on Bourda Street that are the size and pattern of those outside the GPOC.

The vendors there were displaced approximately two years ago when the M&CC decided that no vending could take place there because of the dangers posed by the old Bedford School building.

Mayor Patricia Chase-Green recently said the government is ready to lend a helping hand to the project, but the M&CC is holding back the works.

She noted too, that since the Council has been waiting on the Engineer’s Department to come up with a pattern for the stalls for quite some time now, the M&CC should move forward with this idea that she is proposing.

Town Clerk, Royston King, responded that City Engineer, Colvern Venture, did submit the drawings but the committee dealing with the matter is looking at other options.

King said he can have those who are still plying their business at Bourda Street to remove in three days, but the mayor declined his offer after calling for proper consultations on the matter.

Back in July 2015, King and senior M&CC officials met with some 20 vendors who plied their trade on Bourda Street. The purpose of that meeting was to inform the vendors that they will no longer be allowed to do business there because the Council was ready to go ahead with plans to demolish the said building.

The news was not welcomed by the vendors, but King explained that the situation was no longer tenable as the derelict building posed a threat to their very existence as well as passers-by.

“The Bedford building has been in a state of disrepair for a number of years. The Council had issued a call for persons who have derelict structures to remove them, since they serve as a haven for criminal elements and persons of unsound mind. Also, these structures are an eyesore and pose a threat to the lives of the passers-by and occupiers of neighbouring buildings,” King had said.

“We cannot allow you to operate in an environment that will compromise your safety and health,” he said, adding that while the Council is cognisant of the socio-economic factors affecting citizens, vendors need to cooperate with the administration so that the relocation process can be a smooth one.