As part of the beautification and reorganizing of Bartica, the town council has decided to tackle illegal vending and congestion around the market and vendors arcade areas.
“As it is right now the market is functioning pretty okay and all of the stalls are occupied. The only challenge is tackling illegal vending,” Deputy Mayor Kamal Persaud told Stabroek News yesterday. She said the council was in the process of identifying a suitable area for vending as the issue of illegal vending is of “great concern.” She explained that the huge number of persons vending illegally in the area greatly affects the flow of traffic and sales to legitimate business owners both in the market and vendors arcade. “They [illegal vendors] don’t pay any rates, they don’t comply with GRA [Guyana Revenue Authority] and any of those things and in most cases they are just there operating and greatly contribute to the poor disposal garbage,” Persaud said, pointing out that in some cases persons would even live in the structures they have built over time.
“First they start with a little table, then a collapsible tent, then a wooden structure with a tarp around it and that eventually forms into a permanent thing and that’s one of the reasons I became involved and outspoken about the issue,” Persaud said, asserting that the council will be regularizing the illegal vending, which will also bring in additional revenue.
Persaud said that while they have not done a head count as yet, she estimates there are over 100 persons vending illegally in the commercial area around First and Second avenues, which are the streets closest to the market. She explained that the illegal vendors would usually sell clothing, fruits and vegetables. They have push carts and some of them operate out of their vehicles and cause extra congestion in the area. “…And they operate closest to the Market and that is really causing the market vendors to suffer a great deal. In some cases they come with buses and other vehicles and just park wherever is convenient for them and operate just like that,” she highlighted.
The Georgetown City Council’s efforts to relocate vendors from the Stabroek Market Square, resulted in chaos and protests and Persaud said the Bartica Town Council has taken note and will work to prevent a similar situation there. She explained that the council intends on holding several consultations with the relevant persons, including the vendors, to try and have consensus on moving forward.
“We need a good understanding between the vendors and the council and I believe that communication is important… We recognize that persons depend on this for their livelihood. There are single parents taking care of their homes through this means and people need to understand that it is not a case where the council want to stop persons from earning a living, but we want to make it a level playing field and to have order in Bartica,” the Deputy Mayor explained. She said the council will not make any decision to place the vendors in a location that will negatively affect their business.
She explained that the vendors will be placed in an area where there is “foot traffic.” Once a suitable site is found, she said, “We will want to have that communicated first and find a reasonable solution where we all can agree before anything happens.”
She said that in addition to engaging the vendors in dialogue to come to an agreement, it will not be just a verbal agreement but it will be documented with all parties signing on to a formal agreement beforehand to ensure there is no confusion when the time comes to move. “Looking back at the Stabroek issues, I’m sure that the authorities weren’t lying when they said they held talks or did discuss to some extent their intuitions so of course for me doing it differently would definitely involve having necessary parties involved and coming to find a resolution,” Persaud said.
After procuring the site to relocate and regularize the illegal vendors, Persaud said, the council will seek to have the structures set up or built and then rented to the vendors but has not yet discussed the prices or anything specific. This will be done tomorrow’s statutory meeting.
“The council doesn’t want you trying to remove something that is unsightly and fall back into something unsightly, because from time to time one person will invest and buy a proper tent that is nice and decent and another will stitch together two bags and open up like that and we know some things might be too expensive so moving forward I think that is what we would want to do,” Persaud added, stating that currently vendors pay $6,000 per month and $4,200 on Mongrippa Hill.
Justifying the decision to tackle the illegal vending, Persaud explained that persons from the market and vendors’ arcade have been complaining for a long time about illegal vendors hindering their business. “Persons don’t go into the market anymore that much because at any time of the day or night they can pull up on the road and shop from the illegal vendor,” she said, highlighting that because of that the market vendors’ goods perish since their sales are significantly reduce.
She explained that persons have also been taking up space in front of nightclubs and restaurants and selling foods and beverages at a cheaper price, undercutting the legitimate businesses that are paying their dues. “Of course … everyone should have a fair chance of earning a living but we also have to protect the rights of legitimate business owners,” she said.
In addition to the tackling the illegal vending, as part of dealing with congestion she explained that the council is going to address the buses and taxis who often obstruct traffic and cause confusion. She explained that they have held talks with the respective associations, along with the Police Traffic Department, and while there has not been any formal agreement, the transport operators have indicated that they would be willing to move a corner away from the market area. “Some of the bus operators are aggressive in the way they operate,” Persaud said. “They don’t pull into the park and this creates a traffic hazard in the area since most of the streets in Bartica are [narrow]… They have agreed and are cooperating.
She highlighted that the change will bring needed order to the market area which will contribute to the overall beautification project.
