Georgetown Mayor Ubraj Narine says he will meet with stakeholders to find a solution to stop roadside vending but until then he will not remove vendors because that is how they make their living.
Narine during a telephone interview with Stabroek News said that he will not be approaching vendors to have them removed from the roadsides unless there is an alternative in place for these persons. The Mayor was responding to the comments made by the Minister of Public Works, Juan Edghill, just over a week ago. The minister while at an event had told the media that roadside vending has to stop. He noted that many persons have taken up spots along the sides of roads to conduct vending and he declared them to be a road safety hazard and a violation that needs to come to an end. Further, he said that the situation should be dealt with by the ministries of Local Government and Public Works and the Mayor and City Council.
Narine told this newspaper that the persons involved in roadside vending are doing so as a means of earning a living. If the government wants to have them removed, he argued, then they need to provide jobs for those vendors. “If the ministries or the government could give them some kind of grant or relief every week we can be able to work around it.”
Edghill had suggested that persons can approach the Ministry of Human Services and Social Security for aid.
Narine stated that if the persons are to be removed, then a decision needs to be made with all parties involved. He said that the minister’s comment should have come following some meeting where they would have discussed options. He added that he has been interacting with these persons and that the minister seems to have lost touch with the people. “There can be a roundtable discussion. At this point of time, vending in the city, yes I know it’s not a good thing but that is the only way people can be able to make an honest living. You don’t want people to go and thief and do illegal stuff and many people depend on that road for their daily meals. That is how I view it because I does be interacting with all these people them every day. So Mr. Edghill, probably he lose touch with the people.”
Narine added, “We should have a roundtable discussion with different stakeholders, including the private sector. Many businesses don’t pay their taxes and those people [the vendors] pay a clearance fee and that is how we are able to clean the place and get things done too.”
“At this point in time, for Minister Edghill to make this type of statement without having a meeting or saying something to the stakeholders is not healthy for those people who depend on the road for their daily meal,” he further stated. He reminded that these vendors make their “bread and butter” by vending on the roadside and that many persons utilize this service as well. He said that he wouldn’t have anybody removed until discussions as he suggested, are properly conducted and solutions are decided on.
Edghill said that moral suasion and voluntary compliance will have to be considered when approaching the vendors. He also said that the creation of jobs which the president has been pushing is a way to encourage these persons to have other options. The minister said that information and communications technology (ICT), agro-processing, or construction within the housing projects, can be options for these persons. He also said these persons need to seek something long-term.
