Govt demolishes Vreed-en-Hoop vendors’ stalls

There was miscommunication – says Robeson Benn 
Vreed-en-Hoop, West Coast Demerara vendors, yesterday stood back and watched as their stalls were demolished by men who claimed to be acting on orders from the Ministry of Public Works.

The scene yesterday as Ministry of Works’ workers demolished Vreed-en-Hoop vendors’ stalls.

The men, who were clad in construction wear and equipped with sledge hammers, said that they were authorised to remove the vendors from their current location.
One vendor explained that the group had met with President Donald Ramotar and Minister Benn, just one week ago and were told that a market place will be built for them. They said that they were also informed that their stalls would not be broken down, until they were notified.
“They even tell we that if anybody try fuh move we, tell dem, that we ain’t going nowhere! So me ain’t understand wa going on”
The angry vendors who began to chant “No selling, no voting”, claimed that they have been selling there for over a decade, and they believe that it is only common courtesy that the Minister of Works should have given them notice to leave the area.
But Kaieteur News learnt that the demolition exercise stemmed from a conflict between vendors who were blocking the entrance of St. Swithin’s Anglican Church. One vendor said that the people at the church asked the two vendors to move, and when they refused, decided to seek out higher authority.
“So basically, Peter pay for Paul, and Paul pay fuh all” she said.
One of the men, who identified himself as an employee of the Minister, said that he felt horrible about what he was instructed to do.  “I get order from Minister Benn fuh come out here and move some people, but I feel this is really unreasonable. I feel bad because these people poor and they ain’t got jobs in this country for poor people”.
But the Minister had been a part of the meeting with President Ramotar when the promise was made that there would be no demolition until after a meeting that was scheduled for Wednesday. The demolition occurred way ahead of schedule.
By mid-afternoon, the men were still in the process of demolishing the stalls, while a handful of police officers overlooked the activity. This newspaper understands that approximately 20 Police officers from the Vreed-en-Hoop and Leonora Police Stations were called to ensure that the exercise was conducted in a peaceful manner.
Minister Benn later explained that it was all a miscommunication. He said that the instruction he gave was to remove three Canter trucks, which were being used as selling stalls on the roadway. Benn said that the persons operating businesses from these trucks have been given more than one notice to leave.
The trucks were to be removed since they were blocking traffic heading in a northerly direction. The workers, however, extended Benn’s instruction and decided to demolish the stalls.