A food vendor is now calling for $5 million in compensation from the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) after his food caravan was reportedly removed and destroyed by City Constables.
The vendor, Patrick John, who operated two buildings before Royal Castle on Croal Street, Georgetown complained that his food caravan was removed on Thursday without him even being served a notice. Guyana Times understands that City Constables removed the man’s food caravan at 12:00h while he was at home.
Speaking with this publication, John said he has the necessary permit to operate in
Patrick John
the area, which was granted by the very Council in April.
The vendor added that this is not the first time City Hall has removed his caravan, but this time it cost a lot, since his means of livelihood is now damaged.
“About two weeks after I got permission to open and start working, he (Town Clerk Royston King) just came and removed my container and said it can’t be there… I said I got to get GPL to come and cut the wires if I got to move and the next day he just went ahead and cut the wires,” John explained.
According to him, those activities occurred back in April and resulted in him being moved to Croal Street, Georgetown, where he was again removed from on Thursday.
“This time they caused even more damage because the container itself broke in half, my microwave, deep fryer, everything just crushed up inside there. It (just) break up and I would like to be reimbursed for my entire losses, the damage of my container and all the equipment,” the frustrated man told Guyana Times.
He said he estimates his losses to be about $5 million owing to the fact that he
The food caravan
would have paid money to have the caravan shipped from the United States (US).
John said he does not mind if City Hall chooses to buy him a caravan, or give him the money so he can again try to vend to make his livelihood.
The food vendor said he was made aware of what was going on through a friend.
Head of the Vendor’s Union, Eon Andrews, has since condemned the actions of the M&CC, saying he believes the matter is a very troubling one, especially since City Hall evidently gave the necessary vending permits.
Several efforts made by this publication to contact the Town Clerk proved futile.
