… says “vendors want change but not willing to help make it”
Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan said it is unlikely the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (GMCC) will change
Deputy Mayor Sherod Duncan
its position on the plans to relocate the Stabroek Market Square to Hadfield Street.
In a telephone interview with Guyana Times Duncan said that while the Council understands the plight of vendors the unanimous decision by the council is that the renovation to the area will bring benefits to the very vendors.
The council is temporarily relocating vendors operating outside the Stabroek Market to an empty plot of land south of Parliament Buildings.
Vendors are contending that no consultation has been made with them as is customary. One vendor voiced her opinion that, “the PPP/C never do us this… Jagdeo used to call we inside and talk to us whether he like we or not.”
At the protest outside City Hall on Friday, vendors claimed, “is we vote for them, we put dem deh, we vote fa change, and this is wa we get?”
However, Duncan is challenging that while GMCC understands the importance of making a living, they have to be willing to compromise: “We are committed to making life better but the vendors want change but not willing to make compromises.”
Duncan continued to this newspaper: “We as a council know that the area is in dire need of recapping. It floods constantly and is in utter chaos. A lot of the lawlessness that is encouraged under the clock seems to be getting out of hand for city constabulary. Pick pockets and chain snatching are too much, we need to fix this.”
Duncan added that the main reason behind the decision is to make the area better, adding that security is a major issue at the Stabroek Market Square.
He noted that everyone will be relocated temporarily as works on the surface are pressed to be completed in time for the 50th anniversary of Guyana’s Independence. But “the unsupportive vendors are “not seeing the bigger picture.”
On Friday, a group of angry vendors staged a protest outside Ministry of the Presidency before marching down to City Hall.
The vendors feel that this move is “unfair” and “disrespectful”.
Town Clerk Royston King on Thursday during a meeting with some 400 vendors said they would be removed for four months to facilitate a clean-up exercise as part of an overarching plan to secure the integrity and health of Stabroek Market Square.
