Rose Hall Mayor Vijay Kumar Ramoo is insisting that street vendors within the township must comply with the movable stalls policy.
Rose Hall Mayor Vijay Kumar Ramoo
The Mayor is giving the street vendors one more day to comply.
Ramoo told this publication that the stalls pose a security risk for the public, noting that many persons have been robbed and there are instances where perpetrators waited in the stalls at night and attacked females.
The Mayor’s comments come one day after street vendors of the town met with Regional Prime Ministerial Representative Gobin Harbhajan and vented their concerns over the decision by the Town Council to have them removed if they do not comply.
Ramoo, however said the Council took a decision and he will ensure that it is carried out.
The stalls are preventing the Town Council from cleaning the drains along Arch Road
“The decision was taken since last year December to regularise Independence Avenue which is referred to as “Arch Road”. We are not stopping them from selling but they must have stalls that when they are finished selling they can take it away.”
The vendors had however argued that in the past, criminal elements rolled away their stalls on wheels which they had locked up after selling.
They also say that some of those who live in the town will be able to take away their stalls after vending but the others will have nowhere to take them.
The Mayor also stated that the Council cannot carry out needed road repair and has difficulty cleaning drains, which are situated behind the stalls. However, some of the street vendors claim they have had to fortify the road shoulder in order to erect their stalls and the municipality collects a monthly fee from them.
Speaking with this publication on the issue, the Mayor said persons who have legitimate businesses have complained to the municipality of the unfair competition and the hindrances to their businesses as a result of the vendors on the street with permanent structures.
He added that those who do not comply will have the structures they have erected removed on Saturday.
“We will take the necessary action to remove those structures after the deadline. They are all free to sell but at the end of the day they have to remove their structures,” he explained to Guyana Times. (Andrew Carmichael)
