–Edghill to put an end to ad hoc vending
–says opportunities exist for people to be gainfully employed

THE growing ‘road side hustle’ trend will soon come to an end following joint consultations with the Ministry of Public Works, the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development and the Georgetown Mayor and City Council.

This is according to Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, who expressed his disgust with people who set up shop and sell out of their vehicles at the side of the road and in the process, impede traffic and put people’s lives at risk.

He said the “lawlessness” needs to end.

A growing trend has developed along the roadways with vendors setting up temporary makeshift stands to facilitate the selling of varying items including bread and “dog food.”

A significant portion of these vending operations have been set up along high traffic intersections of the main roadways along the Sheriff/Mandela four lane highway and the DSL turn, extending along the East Bank Demerara Public Road.

According to Minister Edghill, this poses a significant threat to the safe use of Guyana’s roadways. He noted that the government has already assessed the challenges arising from these operations and is working on ways to address the growing issue.

“It is a violation, it is a serious traffic safety issue…Now, just look here, dog food, everything selling, every time somebody stops to buy something on a four-lane road, you’re backing up traffic. It’s not something that is desirable,” the Public Works Minister lamented during a tour of the works ongoing on the Sherriff Street/Mandela road project on Saturday.

He stated that while the government intends to have the vendors voluntarily relocate from these established points through moral persuasion, it is not opposed to utilising the law to have those persons removed.

“And we have to do a lot more public awareness. You see, I believe in the first instance, we should try moral persuasion and voluntary compliance, but let me make it very clear I am not afraid of the fist and using the enforcement of the laws.” He said systems must be put in place to remedy the “lawlessness” that occurs due to the establishment of these ‘road side hustle’ ventures.

“We have been quite lenient in the pandemic period and I say that gracefully because in the pandemic period, people were out of jobs, people were basically hustling for survival and we did not want to unnecessarily interrupt economic activities, but the way our country is going we got to stop lawlessness.

“Everybody cannot come out on a pave or a minibus or canter can’t park on a roadway and start selling…because what we are seeking to do – to improve travel time, greater accessibility, greater safety of our people – will not be achieved with that kind of operation,” the Public Works Minister emphasised.

He reminded that many of these newly erected structures are not only impeding traffic but they also prevent the cleaning of nearby drains and maintenance of roads. The Public Works Minister stated that in many cases, maintenance vehicles cannot operate without potentially destroying these structures and are forced to halt necessary ‘up-keep’ work.

OPPORTUNITIES AVAILABLE
Meanwhile, Minister Edghill encouraged the vendors to look at other avenues that they can utilise to make money, noting that with Guyana returning to some level of normalcy since the COVID-19 pandemic, there are many opportunities available.

He noted that the government recently implemented several systems that could provide direct revenue for earning and, so, he encouraged vendors to take the necessary steps to benefit from the initiatives.

He reminded that the government has invested significantly in the ICT sector; the agricultural sector, directly in agro-processing; and in the construction sector through the Ministry of Housing and Water, to provide job opportunities for a significant number of Guyanese.

“We’re coming out of that pandemic period where people could get back their lives in order and we would hope with the creation of new jobs, which President (Irfaan) Ali has been pushing…that some of the people who are now literally hustling at the road corner will seek to get something more long term, because we don’t want to come in and just say you got to move. People must be able to have some alternatives and we’re saying start looking for alternatives,” Minister Edghill stated.

NOT JUST REGION FOUR
Meanwhile, the minister highlighted that while the issue of ad hoc vending along main roads are prevalent in Georgetown, it is not exclusive to Region Four. He said the government has been taking note of the areas where this is most prevalent and has already planned to target this problem in Region Three (Essequibo Islands-West Demerara) and Region 10 (Upper Demerara-Upper Berbice), following its inter-ministerial discussions.

“We just can’t continue the road side hustle especially at major intersections. And it’s not only here; it’s on the West Demerara, at Linden it’s the same thing developing and I’m putting everybody on notice.”

Minister Edgill again reminded that the establishment of these vending sites on unapproved public spaces are directly affecting the government’s promise of progress.

“We cannot continue the lawlessness of ‘I’m a single mother’, or ‘I’m a single parent’ or ‘I’m a poor man making a hustle’.

“Because while you’re making a hustle, you’re interfering with development, you’re interfering with progress and you’re contributing towards lawlessness and we cannot continue to have that,” Minister Edghill stated.