The Enmore Neighbourhood Democratic Council (NDC) has written to vendors occupying spaces on the Enmore North Estate Road, East Coast Demerara asking them to vacate the area for the construction of a four-lane road. The vendors, who are questioning the eviction, were served with the letters on February 21.
The Enmore Estate road has been occupied for decades by people who operate, among other things, washbays, a salon, barbershops and a cafeteria. However, just recently, a few more were added to the 11-odd vending group.
According to the NDC’s letter, the vendors were being evicted because stalls appeared to be permanent instead of temporary, non-payment of the monthly $8,000 rental and the imminent expansion to a four-lane road.
However, one vendor told this newspaper, “a four-lane road passing here and the gas station is right there and they doing construction too, only the other day the NDC give out another two spot.”
The vendors described the situation as strange since they have been vending there for many years and usually pay a fee of $8,000 monthly to the NDC for their spots. They expressed shock that they were not engaged and were unaware of the construction of the road. The vendors depend on their businesses for their survival since it is their main source of income.
Guyanese and West Indies cricketer Sherfane Rutherford’s mother Karen Rutherford has had a stall at the site for 45 years. It is the family business and one of the oldest and has been the Rutherford family’s main source of income for many years. The mother of four operates a cafeteria while two of her sons operate a barbershop and a wash bay.
One of them, Shavis Rutherford, told Stabroek News on Sunday that they were given one month to vacate the space. Shavis is currently occupying a stall that existed for 25 years. It had been purchased from the original stall owner and developed into a barbershop and hang-out spot.
His brother Keron Rutherford, he said, has been operating his wash bay for seven years. Shavis Rutherford stressed that the stalls have been the main source of income for their family since he was a little boy. He added that before his father died, his mother and father operated the cafeteria.
Wendy Charles, a hairdresser for ten years and mother of three, has been working at her stall for eight years. She, too, said it was her main source of income. She stated that for the years they were operating there they had never been in conflict with the NDC.
Efforts made to contact the other stall owners were futile.
The Enmore North Estate Road can be accessed from three routes: the junction at the Pooran Lumber yard, the Has-lington Turn/Enmore Old Road and the Estate road that connects from north to south.
