Public order needed to control “haphazard” roadside vending – Edghill

Even as Government supports the establishment of small businesses, free vending along any major highway would not be encouraged, as it is considered a hindrance to traffic flow.
This is according to Public Works Minister Juan Edghill, who underscored on Saturday that comprehensive work is being undertaken to ensure that there are proper highways and four-lane roads to avoid traffic congestion — an issue that has long been frowned upon by citizens.
However, the Minister shared that some roadside vendors are plying their trade in any spot, affecting the free flow of traffic and creating hazards for drivers.
“As a policy position of the President Irfaan Ali Government, we encourage small business development. We have nothing against people vending, selling, developing small businesses; but you cannot just put up a booth, a shack, a cart at any place where you feel…The purpose why we have put four-lane roads is to ease congestion, reduce travel time, and to make the experience more pleasurable, as opposed to the backup,” Edghill outlined.
The Minister relayed that there are specific areas and markets to facilitate businesses and vendors. In restoring order, he shared, there must be a balance between encouraging business operations and respecting Government’s policies.
“There are markets. There are areas that you can go and vend, but everybody seems to want to do it wherever. For example, at DSL turn, if you sell dog food there and people stop to buy, we have a backup of traffic on four-lane roads. We can’t put vending there,” he explained.
“We intend to start doing improvements, and, somewhere along the line, we have to be able to restore order. Everybody will say they are hustling to make a living, but we have to bring order somewhere along the line…We’re just taking the necessary steps to bring order,” he posited.
In recent times, vendors operating in high-traffic areas have been given notices to remove within a certain timeframe. Just last month, the Public Works Ministry initiated actions to remove vendors who were occupying spaces along New Market Street, between Thomas and East Streets, following notices that they were impeding traffic flow in the vicinity. According to the notices issued to them, they were informed that their operation had been impeding the smooth flow of traffic in the vicinity of the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), the main public health institution in the country. (G12)