City Hall is making another attempt to remove some vendors who sell along Regent Street, but the apparent decision by the acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba to initiate the move did not go down well yesterday with city councillors.
Discussions were tense when the issue was raised by councillor Junior Garrettat yesterday’s statutory Mayor and City Council (M&CC) meeting.
“If we have to go and put the people [vendors] back there, we will do that …” Garrett said, adding that it is a serious issue and should not have been decided upon by a single person.
He argued that Sooba should have sought advice from the Markets and Security committees, whose members would have informed her of the background to such issues and how they are to be handled.
“I am prepared to go with these people and put them back. They got to live … The people are earning a decent living,” Garrett declared.
Stabroek News understands that the vendors along Regent Street were yesterday informed that they will be required to stop operating on the pavements.
Councillor Victor Sobers, meanwhile, noted the conflicting messages being given to the constabulary and asked for “breathing space.”
“Let them do what they have to do. One time we telling them move the vendors, one time we telling them not to,” he added.
Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green explained that when the Stabroek Market vendors were moved, the matter was first brought to the council, after which the decision was taken. She noted that a new facility, the Merriman Mall, was prepared for these persons and as such, the matter of the Regent Street vendors cannot be similarly compared.
“The Town Clerk didn’t walk out and move the Stabroek Market vendors. Let the council deal with it like we did with the Merriman’s Mall and Orange Walk… this is not a one-man show!” she added.
PRO Department
Meanwhile, Sooba yesterday continued to face criticism over her decision to instruct City Hall Spokes- person Royston King to proceed on leave, even as citizens gathered outside City Hall and protested against the move.
“It came to my attention this morning that Mr. King was asked to proceed on leave.
There was no recommendation from the Training and Personnel Committee… How are we going to operate? That is the arm that gives us a positive vibe out there, the Public Relations Department? We need to do things differently!” Chase-Green declared at the meeting.
PPP Councillor Kamla Devi Ross insisted that the meeting was not the appropriate place for the issue to be discussed but this statement was rebuffed by both members of the council and members of the public who attended the meeting. “This is not the way for the city’s business to be handled,” she, however, reiterated several times.
King received the notice last Thursday, which indicated that he must proceed on leave as of August 27 for a period of three weeks.
Councillor Ranwell Jordan read the letter sent to King. According to Jordan, the reason given for sending King on leave was to facilitate a reconfiguration process of the Public Relations Department. “It has become necessary for the Town Clerk to re-examine the functioning of the Public Relations Officer section in the Town Clerk’s Department, especially in light of the council’s current financial status… you are instructed to immediately proceed on the remaining 21 days of your vacation leave which is due to you. You are to properly hand over your duties to Valerie Clark Chichester, the Assistant Town Clerk,” Jordan read.
Asked by Mayor Hamilton Green to hear King’s response, Jordan read a different document, in which the spokesperson told Sooba that she is now targeting his department for obvious reasons.
In addition to this, King said that she does not have the authority to instruct him or any other officer on leave and also pointed out that she does not have the competence to re-examine the functioning of the division.
Despite much prompting by some councillors, Sooba provided no comment on this particular issue.
About 10 to 15 persons gathered along the Regent Street pavement outside the town hall with placards, which read “Royston King is the legitimate Town Clerk” and “Sooba must go,” among other things.
Last week, the Guyana Local Government Officers Union (GLGOU) President Dale Beresford said that unless Sooba rescinds the order and follow the correct procedure, then city workers would engage in industrial action.
Nothing to hide
Meanwhile, Jordan also raised concerns about a directive by Sooba that was passed to the Chief Constable Andrew Foo to bar persons from the public gallery. “The Chief Constab said that he was instructed by the Town Clerk. The Town Clerk takes instructions from this council and I don’t see how the Town Clerk tell persons not to come in here and listen,” he said.
Chase-Green noted that according to the law, the statutory meetings of the Mayor and City Council are public and persons should be allowed. “It is a public forum and all persons should be allowed, so there was some violation some time,” she stated.
Garrett pointed out that the Town Clerk, who previously functioned as the legal officer, should have a better understanding of the procedures. “We don’t have anything to hide. These meetings must be done openly because it’s the peoples’ business we are discussing; as such, provisions have been made in the law that it is the right of citizens to listen. This will not be trampled. Corrective actions must be taken,” Garrett said.
Councillor Anthony Boyce, meanwhile, said that he agreed with Sooba’s decision to have persons barred, since they appeared to be “unruly.”
“I had concerns of the unruly, rowdy behaviour and we have to give consideration to that,” Sooba finally said.
Chase-Green, however, questioned the way in which it was determined who was protesting and who was not.
“What prevents the persons in the public gallery from erupting right now?” she asked, while reiterating that the law stated that the meetings are public.
