Public Works Minister Juan Edghill has warned vendors operating along the Kingston seawall that they face removal for breaching the conditions under which they were provisionally permitted to use the area.
According to a Ministry of Public Works statement on Friday, Edghill met the vendors at the seawall along with Sea and River Defence Board Head Kevin Samad and ministry officials.
The alleged violations include the unauthorised subletting of vending spaces, persons living in stalls, illegal electricity connections, excessive noise, unapproved structural extensions and poor sanitation.
Edghill told the vendors that their provisional approvals had been granted subject to specific conditions but that many operators were no longer complying with them.
“I’ve had the need to meet with you before to enforce certain standards stipulated in your permits, but now you are backsliding, and hence I am here,” the minister said.
He reminded them that the sections of the seawall extending east from the Kitty roundabout to Sheriff Street and west to the 1823 Monument remained no-vending and no-noise zones.
Edghill said that persons had resumed vending in restricted areas despite earlier warnings and cautioned that enforcement action would follow if they failed to move within the approved boundaries.
“There won’t be a move back in like the last time; it would be picking you up and moving completely,” he warned.
The minister also instructed the Sea and River Defence Board to remove vendors found living in their stalls. He distinguished between a watchman remaining at a stall and evidence that the structure was being used as living quarters.
“A watchman is not living. We know when people are living. You have a bed, stove, bathroom, toilet, and you are telling me it is a watchman,” he said.
According to Edghill, the original approvals required vendors to operate from mobile units which could be removed at the end of each vending period. However, he said, wheels had disappeared from some stalls, while concrete foundations and unauthorised extensions had been constructed.
He warned that the government would not entertain future claims for compensation from persons who had erected permanent structures or taken up residence on the reserve without permission.
The vendors were also criticised over the accumulation of garbage despite the placement of nearly 40 receptacles along the seawall. Edghill urged them to establish a committee to oversee sanitation and warned that continued breaches could result in the revocation of permits.
Ministry patrols will continue monitoring the area, the statement said.
The ministry maintained that illegal construction, improper waste disposal and unauthorized utility connections could affect drainage and the seawall, which is part of the sea defence system protecting Georgetown.
Edghill also announced that road-widening works along the seawall would begin shortly and instructed vendors to correct their boundaries and ensure that their operations did not obstruct the project.
Discussion