Anna Regina Town Council to relocate roadside vendors

ROADSIDE VENDORS WILL MOVE TO BUSH LOT MARKET according to a plan the Anna
Regina Town Council unveiled to prime Minister Mark Phillips and Public Service Minister,
Sonia Parag.
“We have ongoing discussions about this where you will see persons leave Bush Lot to go and
sell on the roadside of Anna Regina. Police and us (Town Council) tried to move them but then
they start to follow Prince Holder, and now they are saying that they must stay there. We have
told them that they were selling illegally there and they have to move from there because we
want to do some work on the road,” a Councillor told government officials.
There are ongoing consultations about the proposed plan.
A struggling Bibi Haberdash, a vendor of Bush Lot market, said roadside vendors are robbing
her of business and she now finds it hard to meet her regular expenses
“We don’t sell nor do we make any profit to pay the rent. We are now forced by the Council to
pay rent as they have been sending letters to us over and over and threatening us that they will
take back the stall,” Haberdash complained.

The heart-broken vendor noted that the authorities gave them “two hours” to ply their trade.
“You cannot sell anything (in two hours) because of the competition on the road which the
council needs to understand.”
She is appealing for a reduction of stall fees until the economy stabilises.
Minister Parag promised to “make representation about this matter and so the respective
ministers will return to the region soon to check up on the concerns addressed to ensure what is
promised is fulfilled.”

Local Government and Regional Development Minister, Nigel Dharamlall, earlier this year had
appealed for an end to roadside in Anna Regina to allow rehabilitation of the thoroughfares. The
Anna Regina Town Council plans to construct two leading to the municipality.
At the time of the announcement, Dharamlall had instructed the council to procure about 50
collapsible tents for the vendors to continue plying their trade at Cotton Field. Some vendors
moved, but a protest led by the Region’s Chairman, Prince Holder, stymied the plan.