Anna Regina Town Council demolishes single mother’s stall
By Indrawattie Natram
A Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) single mother is now contemplating her next move after officials from Anna Regina dismantled her stall last week.
A frustrated Sattie Narine pointing to the remains of her stall
Clothes vendor Sattie Narine of Capoey Village, Region Two, is calling the actions of the Anna Regina Town Council (ARTC) “unfair” after she found several zinc sheets and boards ripped from her stall when she turned for work early Wednesday morning.
Speaking with Guyana Times the woman explained that around 06:30h that day, a delegation from the ARTC visited the area where she and several others vend on a daily basis and dismantled her stall, without her knowledge.
The single mother said that she spent $300,000 to construct her stall and although it’s not a permanent structure, it was destroyed by the council. She is contending that if the ARTC was on a dismantling exercise to remove permanent stalls from the road shoulders then they should have commenced from the beginning of the market instead of just going to her stall.
Narine is of the view that it was an act of discrimination and she is calling on the council for an explanation.
“I come out daily here to vend, I am a single mother, I am earning honestly, why put me out of business? Who is going to give me money?” the woman lamented.
The vendor pointed out that since 1989 she has been doing business and on several occasions she was removed without any explanation. When asked by this newspaper if she was issued any notice from the Council in the past the woman said yes.
However, the frustrated vendor is contending that her stall is not a permanent one and as such the council should have given her some time.
Meanwhile, when Guyana Times visited the market area Wednesday morning, several other stall owners were still on the road selling. They, like Narine, also have their stalls on the road shoulders.
One of the vendors selling in the market, Simone Lashley, said that Council was unfair with their treatment of Narine. “If they wanted to remove stalls then they should have started from the first, why just Narine stall only?”
When asked if she is given a stall inside the market if should would relocate, Narine said she is prepared to do so in order to continue earning her livelihood.
However in an interview with Guyana Times Anna Regina Town Clerk, Diane Critchlow, said that the Council had given Narine a permanent stall spot on the eastern side of the market, which she refused to occupy.
Critchlow explained that the dismantling crew had visited the market Wednesday to dismantle stalls on the roadway. However, she was informed that only Narine’s stall was destroyed and could not say why this was done.
Nevertheless, the Town Clerk pointed out that vendors along the road shoulders at the Anna Regina old market area were given notices since a month ago to remove all permanent structures.
