What had been decades of hard work seemed to have been reduced to nothingness for vendors of the Merriman Mall, Bourda, Georgetown, who were on Wednesday morning stunned by the sudden move by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) to have them remove from their place of business.

That move sparked much criticism and the angry mob took their cries to the gates of the Ministry of the Presidency.

The vendors gathered outside the President’s Shiv Chanderpaul Drive office and their irate rants became a sound warning to President David Granger, that if he did not step in to remedy the situation, then there might be trouble.

Close to 30 vendors, many of whom have been selling for close to 35 years at the Merriman Mall, complained that the M&CC was cheating them for no apparent reason.

The vendors said they turned up Wednesday morning, unaware that the Council had made the decision to move them.

The M&CC on Monday said that it was placing a temporary suspension on vending on the Mall between Orange Walk and Cummings Street, Bourda.

It said it observed that the area was untidy and not in keeping with the vision to keep the city clean.

But the Council has been at odds with these vendors for quite some time now. Back in October last year, members of the Council pounced upon them, destroying their stalls and items without any proper explanation or prior notice.

Later that same month, Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase Green had warned that if vendors did not comply with an order to become uniformed, they would lose out on the opportunity to continue.