Minister of Local Government Ganga Persaud on Friday informed that measures are being put in place to have better security at municipal markets.
“Almost on a weekly basis we hear the cries by vendors about various issues with regard to security and measures are being put in place to address this…,” he said at a press conference in the Ministry’s boardroom.
This year, too, the minister said, municipal markets would be encouraged to invest with regard to cameras to better provide the necessary security to vendors.
He disclosed that cameras have already been installed in the Bartica region and there has already been improvement in this regard. “Having installed their cameras in November, they have not recorded any other breakage into that market. Before that, every other week there was reported breakage,” he added.
Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Local Government Norman Whittaker said that those persons who partake in illegal and roadside vending contribute to the solid waste management problem.
Whittaker also said that measures are being put in place to correct these problems. “Because underutilization means that persons illegally occupy and use areas that they shouldn’t, we have determined that we have to take elaborate steps to correct that in 2014 because it is contributing in large measure to the untidiness that we see. Roadside vending, illegal vending is what has contributed in large measure to the solid waste problem,” he argued.
Last June in a visit to several market tarmacs, many persons had voiced concerns to Stabroek News about the lack of security at the various tarmacs. Over the past few years, close to $3 billion had been spent on ten market tarmacs.
