… to address concerns of vendors, citizens

SEVERAL ministers of government and members of the APNU+AFC party on Friday hit the streets of Georgetown during a walkabout meeting with vendors and other citizens around the Bourda Market area and listening to their issues and concerns.

Included in the contingent were Ministers Nicolette Henry, Annette Ferguson, Amna Ally, Sydney Allicock, Keith Scott, Dominic Gaskin and Karen Cummings; APNU Georgetown Councillors Denroy Tudor, Ivelaw Henry and Deputy Mayor Alfred Mentore were also a part of the outreach, as well as Regional Member of Parliament Jermaine Figueira.
The members arranged themselves in groups and tackled several areas around the market. “It’s just mainly to sensitise the public as to the work of the APNU+AFC and to give some amount of knowledge to some of the queries asked by some of the residents and shop owners within this area ,” explained Tudor.

Minister within the Ministry of Public Health Karen Cummings, and Minister of Education Nicolette Henry, noted the eagerness with which they were received from those persons with whom they interacted. They were asked to do the outreach more frequently. “My route took me to North Road, I interacted with the vendors there, listened to their concerns… some of the things they spoke about is that they want to see us more often.

They spoke about the parking, it’s a little congested at Bourda. We had a councillor on my team and we took notice of that and we want to do something about that,” Cummings said.
Minister of Business Dominic Gaskin also encountered a number of vendors who were grateful for a listening ear. “We went down Bourda Street and into Robb Street.

They were a lot of issues with the vendors. The people are generally polite, some are louder than others, but generally it’s a good reception. Every time we go out we get a fair share of complaints, but that’s what we’re here for. And we have to find solutions. We interacted with the vendors outside. Some complained of having their stalls demolished, others complained about having to buy from wholesalers who then sell retail at the same price they sell to them wholesale,” Gaskin said.

Gaskin said the congested state of the market is definitely an issue that needs to be addressed, but noted that such issues fall under the Mayor and City Council (M&CC). Nonetheless, he said wherever possible the Ministry of Business could offer it’s assistance it would.

“There’s too many persons selling the same thing, but it’s a lot of competition for a small customer base, and therefore the people are coming out more and more outside the market. It’s a bit disorderly and we need a solution. It starts with a more orderly arrangement and whatever the rules are we have to implement them very strictly.

We have a new municipal council now in place and we hope that they can come up with some solutions. I think as a government even though we don’t have the responsibility for the municipality, I think that we should look to be a part of some solution to this problem. It’s not peculiar to this market,” Gaskin said.

One citizen who enjoyed the activity was Bonita Montaque, a well-known women and children’s activist. “I’m aware the ministers are meeting citizens and doing what they’ve been doing before with some intensity and I thought it’s important if not for all citizens at least for me to join. I operate an NGO but I do have political preferences and I’m not afraid to address that publicly,” Montaque said.