Public Works Minister, Bishop Juan Edghill’s claim that over 20 pit latrines have been removed from the Georgetown Seawall is being refuted by vendors.
The minister met with vendors yesterday to quell tensions over the removal of several structures, many of which the official said had exceeded the agreed upon size and form. Edghill said that some of these stalls were permanent structures, with many built on concrete foundations and plinths.
The minister also made it clear that the removal exercise was not sudden, but in fact over a period and with proper notification to the vendors.
“Anybody who is trying to tell you that this is a now, yesterday for today exercise is fooling the nation, and [so far] we have removed more than 20 pit latrines from this seawall,” the minister said.
But his statement was immediately met with heckling from the vendors refuting the claim.
“That’s a lie”; “Nah man, that’s not true”; and “I object” were some of the shouts.
Nevertheless, he said that every person who has received permission from the Sea and River Defense Board to vend on the Kitty Seawall will continue to vend.
“What we are doing is to ensure that everybody who got a license, your license [would have] told you, or your letter of permit [told you] the conditions under which you must vend and those conditions must be upheld.”
Minister Edghill listed those conditions as no permanent structures, the vending space should be no more than 100 Square feet, mobile vending carts must be 15 feet from the edge of the road, vendors must clean up their area after vending, and whatever is set up when vending must be aesthetically sound and lending to the beautification of the environment.”
Minister Edghill said persons have also vended in areas not designated for vending, like between the Kitty roundabout and the monument. These persons have since been removed and will be accommodated in the properly designated vending area west of the monument.
“You would have seen that we would have already cleared that area, because of what was transpiring we could not have allowed it to continue. I just drove there and you could see the concrete foundations remaining after we moved those persons. So, even though they were moved from between the roundabout and the monument, arrangements were being put in place for them to fit in [with the other vendors west of the monument] so that they would not be left out of business as well,” Minister Edghill noted.
He urges persons to be reasonable and rational as the Sea and River Defense reserve they use temporarily for vending, must be easily accessible in the event of an emergency.
