Public order, safety must not be mingled with partisan politics – Edghill to Mayor

…obstruction by vendors now a life-threatening situation – GPHC
…says request for vendors’ removal fell on deaf ears for years

When it comes to public order and safety, Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has issued a stinging rebuke to Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine, reminding that partisan politics and religious bigotry have no place in Guyana.
In a statement on Tuesday, Edghill said that the matter of ensuring the free flow of access to the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), has now gone into deep politics, bordering on racism and a diatribe loaded with religious bigotry.
According to the Public Works Minister, Narine and other APNU/AFC activists seem to have forgotten that health and access to healthcare, when required, is not something that should be determined by political action.
The Minister made the statement in reference to the ongoing dispute with vendors outside the health institution impeding the free flow of traffic. Final notice of removal was served on the vendors on Monday. However, on Monday evening, there was a confrontation between the Mayor of Georgetown and the workers along with Police officers who were trying to remove the caravans along the roads.
The Government, through the Ministry of Public Works in collaboration with many public and private sector stakeholders, has embarked on a mission to promote environmental health and safety and to prepare the country for its next level of development. Edghill noted the importance of ensuring the street is clear of encumbrances outside the hospital.

“For our continual growth and progress, we simply cannot keep practicing that which we have become accustomed to, especially when it is the wrong thing. The removal of encumbrances along New Market Street needed to be done, it was only a matter of when, and this action will serve in the best interest of every Guyanese who must use our premier health facility, even those who seem to want to politicise this matter.”
“Why are they trying to prevent the entrance to our main hospital from being access free? Opposing the Government’s action should at the very least have a good reason,” Edghill said, labelling those who prevented the removal of the encumbrances as “anti-progress” and “anti-development”.

GPHC
The GPHC sent out a statement of their own, in which they noted that they have been trying, to no avail, to get the vendors to move for years. They noted that successive GPHC Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) have written to the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) on the issue.
“Our records show that the relevant authorities were written to in 2015, 2016, 2019 and 2022 regarding this issue, sighting the threat posed by the obstruction of the traffic, particularly for ambulant vehicles and patients who are seeking care at the GPHC,” the hospital said.
According to the hospital, while the requests for relocation of these vendors predate the current discourse, the situation has worsened over the years and now requires urgent and tactical action. It noted that the obstruction that vending on New Market Street between Thomas and East Streets causes has become a life-threatening situation.
According to the GPHC, this has always been a matter of access to care. They explained that the presence of vendors along these streets has often delayed, particularly ambulant patients, from accessing the services they need in a timely manner.
“As the primary trauma care provider in the city, we cannot underscore enough the importance of having unincumbered access to our facility for our patients and their relatives. The risk that this obstruction poses is too great to ignore; for ambulant, pregnant and trauma patients, time is a critical determinant in their medical management and any imminent delays should be abated.”
The hospital noted that the inundation of unauthorised street vending along the New Market and East Street pavements not only congests the pathways for ambulances and ambulant patients but also poses a challenge for keeping the hospital’s environs clean and impacts noise nuisance for patients in the hospital.
GPHC also noted that the life-threatening situation is further compounded because the obstruction also delays staff from accessing the hospital compound. According to them, such conditions are not conducive to the effective functioning of any medical facility, particularly the GPHC.
“We understand that the vendors must make a living, but the presence of vendors on New Market Street between Thomas and East Streets now constitute a real life-threatening situation,” GPHC said.
The uncontrolled vending on New Market Street, the hospital said, is a real detriment to staff, patients, and their relatives. “The GPHC looks forward to a swift solution by removing the obstruction that presently affects easy access to the hospital.” (G3)