Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall during his television programme ‘Issues in the News’ said the illegal vending on public reserves is an offence and the Government will take action to rectify it.
Vendors in Georgetown and other parts of the country have been occupying streets and parapets to sell goods. However, the Attorney General says this is causing tremendous problems for citizens who are going about their daily lives.
“We have in Georgetown, a preponderance of persons selling food and selling all sorts of things along the public reserves along the streetways, along the road shoulders and they are causing traffic jams, they are causing traffic accidents, they are putting people’s limbs at risk," Nandlall said.
He explained that no permanent structures should be built or licences granted to individuals or businesses to use these reserves for their gain.
However, Nandlall revealed that the Government has information that the Mayor and City Council of Georgetown have been granting licences to persons to occupy these spaces. He said, “the reserves were never intended to give persons personal licences and permission to erect either permanent or temporary structures on a permanent basis.” The Attorney General noted that it is not the Government’s intention to stop persons from making a living, but it is putting other lives at risk. “We cannot allow persons to violate the law to make a living, we can’t have persons creating public disorder and public chaos in order to make a living, we have to put them in the markets, and that is our Government’s position," he stated.
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