Mayor blocks attempt to enforce court order against vendors outside Yhip’s Bakery

…Town Clerk warns delay risks consequences for M&CC from court

The Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC) will return “this weekend” to clear street vendors operating outside Yhip’s Bakery at the corner of Robb and Alexander streets, Georgetown despite an earlier action by Mayor Alfred Mentore that halted the enforcement of a High Court order, Town Clerk Candace Nelson has said.
Nelson, in an interview with Guyana Times, confirmed that the council remains legally bound to enforce a mandamus issued by the High Court compelling the removal of fruit and vegetable vendors from the area, and insisted that the administration has every intention of complying with the order.
“There is a court order compelling us to remove the vendors from around Yhip’s Bakery… and we attempted to remove those vendors,” Nelson stated.
On Sunday, the council workers turned up at the location with two tractor-trailers to execute the court order. However, the operation was abruptly called off after Mayor Mentore arrived on the scene and directed that the vendors be allowed to remain temporarily.
According to Nelson, the mayor’s position was that the vendors should be given additional time to operate through the Christmas season.
“The mayor did turn up and he insisted that the vendors should remain there. His contention is that he wants the vendors to remain there until after the Christmas season is over,” she explained. “So he suggested that they stay there until January 4th, where they can sell off their stuff and then they remove from that.”

Immediate enforcement & compliance
The town clerk said the intervention led to disagreements between the mayor and the council’s administration, particularly because the court order required immediate enforcement and the city was under pressure to demonstrate compliance.
“We were insisting that we act sooner on the mandamus, because first of all, we had to file documents in the court by today (Monday). And we wanted to be able to say that we did carry out the order of the court,” Nelson said.
“Part of the conversation with his Worship and the vendors, we could not execute our duties yesterday,” she noted.
Despite the delay, Nelson made it clear that the court order remains in force and that the council would be returning to the area to enforce it.
Nelson also addressed concerns about the legal implications of the delay, noting that the council was still required to meet a court-imposed filing deadline.
“We couldn’t defer the filing because the court gave us until today to do the filing. So we were able to file some responses,” she explained. “However, what we initially wanted to file to say that the area is clear, we were unable to do that.”
She expressed hope that by the next court appearance, scheduled for January 9, 2026, the council would be able to confirm full compliance. However, she acknowledged that any delay in enforcement could be interpreted as a failure to act.
“So even when we turn up at court on the 9th, I want to be able to tell the court that we did carry out the order of the court,” Nelson said. “As it currently stands, it doesn’t have an effect on the court order unless it proceeds past the 9th of January.”
“As long as the court order is issued, we’re expected to act on it immediately,” she said. “It can be interpreted that the court order is being floated, which is not what we were doing. We were attempting to enforce that order.”

Prior notice
The Town Clerk further revealed that vendors had been given prior notice to vacate the area, with that notice expiring on December 27, prompting the attempted removal on December 28.
“We did give notice to the vendors for them to remove, and that notice expired on the 27th. Hence our reason for trying to clear that area yesterday,” she said.
When asked whether Mayor Mentore had since revised his decision, Nelson said no further discussions had taken place.
“I have not had any discussion with the mayor today, so I’m unable to see if he has revised that decision,” she said. “However, to the best of my knowledge, that has not been revised, but I will still be going ahead this weekend and try to have that area cleared.”
Efforts to contact Mayor proved futile as calls by this publication went unanswered.