On the instructions of Town Clerk Royston King and City Engineer Colvern Venture, municipal workers last night removed several food stalls from Camp Street within the vicinity of the Guyana Revenue Authority (GRA) Headquarters and the St Margaret’s Primary School.
At around 8 pm, workers from the city aided by an excavator arrived on Camp Street and began to remove the mobile zinc structures. Three structures were removed from the area.
As word of the removal spread, two stall owners arrived on the scene and said that no written notices were served on them.
One woman said on Monday around noon a team from City Hall arrived and told them to close their business and move. She explained that they adhered to the instructions and while others returned to vend yesterday she did not.
She added that she received a call last evening which informed her that her stall was being towed away by workers from the city. When she arrived on the scene her stall had already been placed in the Mayor and City Council’s truck.
While Stabroek News was on the scene last night, workers removed a glass case, an old refrigerator and bottles from the woman’s stall which was located a yard away from the GRA compound before loading it onto the truck.
Meanwhile, Navin Singh, proprietor of Mario’s Juice Bar said that he, too, received a call informing him that his stall was being removed from the site by the council.
Singh’s wife explained that the council verbally instructed them to close down their operations and stated that the GRA had complained about the traffic congestion caused by them when persons stop to purchase items. The woman said when they enquired from the authorities if that was an issue they responded in the negative.
The woman said she cannot foresee a valid reason for their removal as they pay a weekly fee of $1500 to the council and pay to keep their surroundings clean.
The stalls removed were taken to the Mayor and City Council storage location on Princes Street.
After the task was completed on Camp Street, the workers removed unused tents and pallets from a strip occupied by Barbers and Cosmetologists on the Merriman Mall.
The council had said the unused workstations fitted with old wood and vinolay had left the area looking like a shantytown.
Earlier this year, King attempted to remove beauticians from the strip but his actions were strongly opposed by the barbers and cosmetologist causing him to meet with them, following a protest. This resulted in the council taking a decision to have the operators ply their trade until the 31st of July before finding a permanent space to operate. However, in a recent meeting with the Mayor Patricia Chase-Green, the operators were told to keep the area in a tidy condition. (David Papannah)
