Stabroek Wharf vendors to spend 2 years on bus park – Town Clerk

…vendors moved to tears after area barricaded

Vendors who ply their trade in the dilapidated Stabroek Market Wharf area will be accommodated at minibus parks for at least two years, until the wharf has been rehabilitated.
This is according to Town Clerk Royston King, who on Thursday hosted a press conference following a cordoning off exercise undertaken just hours before at the deteriorated wharf.
“It (bus parks) is going to be a temporary area, but it (the vendors’ sojourn) is going to be long; because I don’t see the facility, the wharf, being restored and modernised in less than two years. It’s going to take about two years or more (for modernisation of the wharf to be accomplished),” King said.
He nevertheless assured that some $25 million will be used by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to prepare the bus parks for those vendors; and he declared this

a worthwhile investment.
“The investment is going to be worth it out there for the vendors. That’s going to be worth it, I think, because at least it will give them a chance to continue making a livelihood,” King offered.
The relocated vendors will have to face the strong winds for another three to four weeks, until those bus parks are properly prepared for them.
The Town Clerk noted that although the vendors would not be permitted to use the wharf to vend, the M&CC is seeking to permit vendors with perishables to use in front of the Stabroek Market to sell off their goods until their newly designated area is ready.

Tearful vendors
Several vendors who ply their trade in the Stabroek Wharf area were brought to tears on Thursday morning, when they were confronted by City Hall staffers cordoning off the entrances to their vending area.
This move came approximately two weeks after the M&CC had issued a notice informing the vendors of their plans to remove them from the deteriorated area in order to facilitate rehabilitation works there.
When this publication visited the area, staffers of the M&CC were hard at work installing the barricades, much to the displeasure of the affected vendors. They complained that they have no issue with being removed from the area, especially since it cannot be disputed that the wharf is in a deplorable state. They were, however, dissatisfied with City Hall’s move to displace them without providing an alternative area to accommodate them. This was related by a number of the vendors.
A male vendor who said he is the sole breadwinner for his home complained, “All

these things we have here (are) perishables. The boat come Wednesday, they know well they want to close off this market like this, they should at least give de people a chance. Tell we, ‘Well, we putting you out there’, or, ‘We carryin you and put you in the toilet to sell’,” he expressed.
Moved to tears, the man explained that he has three children to maintain. “They takin a bread outta we mouth! Where we gun go?! We got to get somewhere!” he lamented.
A plantain vendor who is a single mother explained, “I don’t have a problem (because) they move us. The beauty about it is that I want they come and tell we that we moving from Point A to go to Point B. We know we have to move, but they ain’t tellin us where we goin. I am a single parent; I have mortgage (to pay) and I have my daughter going to a secondary school”.
Elderly vendor Glasgow (only name given), who has been vending in the wharf area for over 40 years, said: “We glad to find somewhere to go. We need to move because it’s dangerous. Yes, we need to move; but where to go? It will affect my livelihood, because I got a lot of demands when the month come. Ah got bills to pay, ah got mortgage to pay, and I have a lot of things to look after”.
A vendor whose only name was given as Jackie, who retails salted fish among other things, told Guyana Times, “We would be happy if we could get somewhere fuh sell. I sellin here over 20 years. They give we a notice for 14 days, but them ain’t relocate we nowhere else as yet”.
The Public Infrastructure Ministry (MPI) has reportedly undertaken to rehabilitate the Stabroek Market Wharf, which has been in a deplorable state for many years.
Several bus parks have been relocated to facilitate upgrade works to accommodate the vendors, including the Route 42 (Grove/Diamond to Georgetown) Park. A number of other parks were later relocated to facilitate the same venture, specifically to alleviate the traffic congestion in the area.
Bus drivers in the various operating zones have since been placed in different areas, but they have strongly condemned this development because of criminal activities and other inconveniences allegedly associated with those new areas.
In fact, on Tuesday, the Timehri (Route 42) minibus operators were displaced after their new park was flooded. Due to heavy rainfall experienced on Thursday, the flooded situation remained unchanged when this newspaper visited the area.