PUBLIC Works Minister Juan Edghill has bemoaned the difficulties in removing roadside sellers. At a recent contract signing held at his ministry, he made this call to action, urging people to make sure that roadside obstructions that impede traffic movement are removed.

He emphasised that in the event of an emergency, the road shoulders must be clear.

According to Minister Edghill, he has received reports of persons selling along the roadside at Providence, East Bank Demerara (EBD) in the vicinity of Red Road.

The Public Works Ministry had removed stalls in this area in May 2023 because they were hampering traffic flow and impeding the government’s efforts to beautify the environment.

But the vendors are back out in their numbers.

The Public Works Minister said: “As a matter of fact, I have gotten calls and I have received reports that the vendors from Red Road have now come out and they are now on the road shoulders, from Red Road right back to Princess Hotel with caravans and so on. We need to get that fixed.”

In order to highlight how crucial it is to keep the roadside clear, he brought up an incident with a truck that resulted in a traffic jam at Coverden, EBD. A massive 40-foot container that “was on the shoulder of the road where everybody could have just diverted” caused traffic to stop while a ministry crew was working on the lane to fix the problem, according to him.

As a result of renovations made to Sheriff Street in Georgetown, Minister Edghill stated that the ministry has removed several items from the road and would keep doing so.

“We can’t every time we build a road people decide that that’s their prime place of vending and creating problems. Some of them come out at nights and some of them are now leaving things there permanently. We don’t want to shutdown economic activities… There are lots of places where you can get business done but highways and main roads, we must keep them open.”

Roadside vending has become a concern, according to the police, since some vendors are putting themselves and other road users in danger by standing in the midst of traffic to sell their products.

The government has stated that while it encourages the opening of small businesses, it does not promote vending along major highways because it is seen as an obstruction to traffic movement.

Furthermore, vendors on the Road Reserve at Mocha Access Road, Herstelling/Farm Housing Scheme Access Road, Diamond Public Road, and Grove through to Timehri along the EBD have been forced to remove by the Public Works Ministry. Reports state they were relocated.

The ministry has also launched an aggressive operation to remove unused materials and objects, including derelict vehicles from the country’s roadways and reserves.

At the first nationwide national environmental enhancement and beautification exercise for 2024, Minister Edghill told reporters last Saturday that while the government is working to improve the environment, delinquent persons are keeping these efforts from being realised.