Robb Street vendors blast City Hall for space allocation

Vendors plying their trade along Robb Street, Bourda are blasting Town Clerk Royston King and the management of City Hall over the marking and allocation of spots for them to vend. The vendors are claiming that the spot measuring approximately four feet by 10 feet is too small for them to vend since most of them are wholesalers.
President of the Guyana Market Vendors United, Eon Andrews, on Friday met with the vendors who expressed their concerns. He blasted the administration for poor management since the vendors are claiming that they were never consulted before the spots were marked.
“The problem more or less is consultation or dialogue. Many times when you want to make changes and implement thing, people ought to be consulted before and event when you are consulted, you can’t trust the people you talk with because they say one thing and they do something else,” he said.
“Their concern is that they are here and there have been some problems where the people in the green have been complaining of the competition they’re having during the day,” Andrews added.

The vendors along Robb Street are mostly wholesalers who were given permission to vend from 17:00h to 07:00h.
Andrews explained that his members have been conforming to that time limit, but they too are being affected because of the small spaces allocated to them.
One vendor, Vickey (only name given), said he vends during the allotted time and it is ridiculous that the administration would take such a step to confine them (vendors) to such a small space. He added that the space could not hold all of the produce they would usually bring to vend, resulting in them having to put their goods on the pavement and sometimes it falls into the drains at the side of the road.
“The line they saying that is a pallet space they draw it as and they carry we back more in the corner. Now when you go more in the corner a vehicle come and stop in front of you stand and park up and sometimes it deh for over half hour and the people them gone to buy all over. When you go to the Constable, them ah tell you that them can’t do nothing,” the man explained.
He said the lines were marked there over a week ago when vendors from inside the market held a protest over the actions of the Robb Street vendors.
The vendors inside the market are claiming that they would purchase their goods from the wholesalers on Robb Street to vend inside but the wholesalers would be retailing throughout the day at a lower price, hence resulting in them being deprived of customers during the day.
However, Vickey related that the vendors on Robb Street during the day are not bulk wholesalers, since most of them would come during the day to ply their trade.
“These people that are coming here to sell on their vehicles during the day and when we went to the meeting, Royston King said no new vendors and when you talk about the new vendors then the Revenue Collectors say that the Council need money so the people them have to sell. Now we as the evening sellers getting all the blame because of them,” he said.
The vendors are calling on City Hall to have a clear policy on the vending situation. They are also calling for the administration to have the spot allocations reviewed since they are unable to ply their trade comfortably despite being there legally.
“Royston [King] is dictating the market. He is telling us to have one table per family. He is telling you how much business to be. They marked the lines here and they didn’t even care about anything. They are putting you inside the filth to sell,” vendor Jamal Baksh said.
The man said he has been vending along Robb Street for over 10 years but this is the first time they are being confined with no explanation.
They all said they would be seeking another meeting with the administration in the coming week.