Dear Editor,
I am concerned about the utter disregard for the well-being of our vendors who have been offering a service to the public at large. The removal of vendors from Stabroek Square is long overdue, but the Mayor and City Council has shown no vision about how they will continue to ply their trade. This exposes the council to accusations of lack of foresight and cluelessness as to how this matter should be handled.
I sympathize with every suffering vendor and I call on the city fathers and mothers to come up with concrete viable plans to ensure that the vendors continue to earn their daily bread both for themselves and their families. If they were paying dues to the council then the council must take responsibility for the present situation.
When this same exercise was been executed by past regimes there was a wholesale condemnation, but now it is worse because it is being perpetrated against the honest, working people of our country, whose structures are being demolished while the owners sleep.
Kudos must be given to the authorities for bringing to the city a new look, but it should be done with a plan to accommodate the vendors in a place where they can continue to pay their rent, look after their children and meet the demands of daily expenses.
Yours faithfully,
Ivan John
