Seawall vendors call for uniformity

WHILE the majority of vendors at the Kitty Seawall are pleased with the ongoing efforts to beautify and upgrade the area, they are also fearful that its materialisation would have a negative impact on their livelihoods.

Speaking with the Sunday Chronicle recently, stallholders called for the location to be regularised in a manner which enables comfortable and convenient vending.

Carl Melville, the previously homeless man who made it his duty to clean the shores of the seawall daily, is now running a refreshments stall at the location. He is ecstatic to see the ongoing works and is pleased to be in the midst of it all, lending a helping hand to workers during his spare time.

“This [will] be setting a new standard out here, and it will be good [for] tourists and people coming to Guyana,” Melville said.

While the “seawall caretaker” is happy with the improvements, he is also concerned about his new business and the administration’s plans for vendors. He has recommendations that he hopes the government will take into consideration.

“I would glad if they could organise everybody and put everybody in one spot, and give all of we rules,” Melville suggested.

Similar sentiments were shared by the other stallholders, who spoke with this newspaper, including beverage vendor Manda Benn.

“We’re vendors out here and we’ve already invested a lot to set up our businesses, so I would be really glad if they could find an area out here to accommodate us,” she said.
Benn declared that she would love vending at the seawall to be regularised and properly maintained.

“Maybe if it’s a structure that they would want to build, or probably if they give us an option to build we own thing. That way we won’t be having to fetch all our things every day, so it would even be easier for us too,” Benn related.

Meanwhile, Eman Nurse, who has been running the infamous hotdog truck in the vicinity of the Band Stand, for more than 30 years, said he is ecstatic about the ongoing works.

“This has been promised for years…20 odd years,” Nurse specified.

The stallholder noted that the lack of uniformity at the location usually results in much unnecessary lawlessness.

“When they beautify, in order to see the beauty, they will have to regularise we, the vendors…right now, it’s just chaotic…cussing, fighting…these things have to come to an end,” Nurse posited.

The businessman also lamented the fact that the operations of some businesses have created hubs for the deadly COVID-19 disease.

TAXES BUILD A COUNTRY
Questioned about long-term sustainability, Nurse said that he is completely in favour of vendors paying a small maintenance fee.

“Taxes are what build a country, and I see a small fee a form of taxation, and I believe that would help us to keep things in order out here,” Nurse said.

Several other vendors are also in agreement with the institution of a maintenance fee. Candacy, who sells eatables on the seawall tarmac, is also hopeful that once vending is regularised, the maintenance fees could also go towards employing one person to supervise the area, so as to ensure that all vendors are compliant with the rules she hopes would be set out.

“And I feel too that persons selling out here who don’t do the right thing and follow the rules should pay a penalty or be asked to move or something,” Candacy opined.

Maylene Foo, who runs ‘Simon’s Grill’ with her husband, is looking forward to a beautified Seawall.

“Based on the pictures that we saw on Facebook and so, I am really excited about all of it…is just that I want to make sure that vendors are allocated a spot. I don’t mind paying the fee, either,” Foo said.

She is hopeful that once restored, the new environment would be attractive enough to “bring in more business.”

$5M REHABILITATION
Meanwhile, on Friday last, Minister of Public Works Juan Edghill visited the Kitty Seawall to inspect ongoing works being executed on the Band Stand.

It was highlighted that the rehabilitation works on the structure are part of a short-term $5M contract which commenced two weeks ago.

“It is a soft-touch project,” Edghill said. He estimates a completion date of December 15, 2020. Edghill also highlighted the need for “order” as it relates to vending in the area.

“I am not pleased at all with the encumbrance and the wanton disregard for law and order with people who are vending…things have to be done in an order…we want to encourage economic activity, but we cannot encourage lawlessness at the same time,” the Public Works Minister noted.

The project to upgrade and beautify the Kitty Seawall is being executed by the Office of First Lady Mrs. Arya Ali, in partnership with the Ministry of Public Works as well as with the Ministry of Tourism, Industry and Commerce.

Mrs. Ali on Friday last issued a progress report via a post on her official Facebook Page.

“I am delighted to share with you that rehabilitative works have commenced at the Kingston Seawall, which is one of the areas targeted for major upgrade under my National Beautification Project,” the post read.

“A beautifully designed promenade will be developed along the front of the tarmac and a section of the seawall, while the Police Bandstand will benefit from restorative works. Just recently, all lanterns along the tarmac were checked and those that were not working were replaced,” the First Lady said.

Mrs. Ali also used the same medium to encourage all Guyanese to “treat this and other areas with care.”

“Do not dispose of your waste improperly. Do not destroy or deface the infrastructure. All of this belongs to all of us. Let us value the contributions that have been made and cherish it so future generations can have something to enjoy,” the First Lady added.