The recent fatal shooting of a Bourda Market vendor during a robbery has resulted in vendors hiring private security for their protection, Mayor Patricia Chase-Green announced on Monday.
Vendors who sell along Robb Street, between Alexander and Bourda streets, decided to employ armed guards and have also formed themselves into a group to carry out patrols in an effort to ensure their safety.
Chase-Green told a statutory city council meeting on Monday that a delegation of vendors visited her office on Monday morning and informed her of the developments. She added that based on a list submitted, some 25 persons are a part of the group.
She noted that during their discussion, the vendors indicated their willingness to work with the city constabulary, which is short of staff.
Chief Constable Andrew Foo also informed the council meeting that the constabulary has put security measures in place to aid in the reduction of criminal activities around the market. He noted that plain clothes officers have been placed on the ground to monitor the activities there.
Foo told the council that he was made aware of three armed guards being stationed in the area on Monday morning.
With this new development, Town Clerk Royston King recommended that the council meet with the security firm and discuss how the arrangement would work.
He also suggested that the council consider installing surveillance cameras. “These cameras might be the way to go. We are not able to have constabulary officers there all the time and this is one way the cameras can work…,” King noted.
Two weeks ago, food vendor Troy Ramalho, of King Edward Street, Albouystown, was shot dead by a gunman who attempted to relieve him of his jewellery. The shooting occurred around 11 pm in front of his stall on Bourda Street.
The police, in a press statement, said Ramalho had just closed his food business for the night and was waiting on a taxi to take him home when the suspects, one of whom was armed with a gun, pounced on him.
The gunman, according to a witness, discharged a round at Ramalho, who fell instantly, while the other men relieved him of his jewellery and quickly fled the scene.
Ramalho was rushed to the Georgetown Hospital, where he died.
