Referring to him as “Zaccheaus the tax collector”, Town Clerk Royston King has come in for more bashing from vendors of some City markets, who said that he is taking his position a bit too far, “boxing food” out of the mouth of the poor.
Vendors protesting
These were said by vendors who gathered in a peaceful protest outside City Hall Monday.
According to the protestors, King has been passing orders without considering the affairs and circumstances of the poor – persons who have been vending since he was a young child.
“I think to myself Mr Royston King is overstepping his marks. To me he is behaving as if he was not a poor person. Why is it only that you are only attacking the vendors? They are no other working class person that you can attack? Maybe because he believe that we are sitting at the road corner selling, we are doing a legitimate job, he should allow us to sell our time,” one vendor told Guyana Times.
She said the complaints from City Hall are that vendors sometimes leave the area untidy. While that is true to some extent, she claims that council is receiving fees from vendors and they must know who vends where. “They must be able to tax them, but Peter mustn’t pay for Paul and Paul pay for all. He is punishing poor people and God will (sin) him, he has to stop it,” she said.
The vendor went on to compare the mode of operation between the council now and the one which existed under former Town Clerk, Carol Sooba, and Mayor Hamilton Green. She said such things never occurred under the stewardship of Sooba, whom she said looked into the interest of the vendors.
“It’s better she (Sooba) was still here, better, much better,” she said.
One vendor of Bourda Market said the council has passed a new rule that vendors could only sell until 12 midday. She said it is most certainly unfair as they are also collecting the same amount of money as if they were selling for the entire day.
Then there is a shoe vendor from Stabroek Market who had her bit to say.
“I heard they want to remove us from there, but I don’t think that is right, because she (Mayor Chase-Green) came and met us there. And we are paying our rent, we are here through rain and sun to make a dollar and I can’t see why they would want to remove us, because they are collecting millions of dollars in revenues from the rent we pay.”
She too said that the current Mayor and Council is nothing compared to the former system.
“I don’t know why Mayor Chase-Green and Mr Royston King doing this to us. I don’t think this is right at all. I think that they should pray and ask God to lead them to make the right decisions… We try our best to do the right things. I don’t think that is right at all,” she lamented, continuing that everyone is seeking to make a honest living.
Another vendor, in tears, pleaded with the council to return her bread and cheese. She said since last Thursday, an officer she identified as Mr Langevine “took away her bread and cheese and currently has it lodged in a room at the constabulary office.” “I am a single parent mother with three children. I sell my bread on wheels. I lose my capital and my profit. I need justice; I need my bread and cheese. That is how I look after my children,” she said. (Alexis Rodney)
