– Councillor Smith urges City Council

COUNCILLOR Phillip Smith has asked the City Council to look into removing vendors from outside the Woodlands Hospital on Carmichael Street, whom he said are continuing to increase daily.

At a recent City Council meeting, Smith said he spoke to the vendors, who operate between Lamaha and New Market Streets, about the procedures involved in vending.
The councillor said because the vendors are inconveniencing residents and businesses, he decided to contact both the City Engineer and City Constable who undertook to look into the issue.

“I’m asking them to be removed. It’s illegal and it must be controlled because tomorrow someone else will wake up and do the same,” Smith noted.
Town Clerk Royston King responded that this is precisely why a policy on street vending is needed. “We need to bring order, not remove anyone. How can we clear one area and not the next? How do we remove them in the absence of a proper policy?” King questioned.
King recalled that when the City Council attempted to remove those vendors outside of Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA), some councillors were angry. The vendors have since crept back into the area.

Smith is asking, though, that the existing rules on street vending be applied in the meantime the policy is being developed.