Doubles selling near sewer, dumpsters

FORMER Attorney General Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj yesterday promised doubles vendors operating on the compound of the Piarco International Airport and the 81 members of the Piarco Airport Taxi Co-op that he would stand up for them in their time of need. Amidst the buzzing of flies, the vendors and taxi drivers pleaded with Maharaj to assist them with  the numerous woes associated with their trade at the airport. At the request of the two groups, Maharaj met with them to discuss the recent action by the Airports Authority to remove them from the sites that had been allocated for them following the construction of the new terminal building. The four vendors, who were removed from the eastern side of the new airport on September 15, expressed their displeasure at having  been relocated to the area now occupied by the taxi drivers — an area they say proves to be unsanitary and is adversely affecting their livelihood.

According to the vendors, their booths are in close proximity to the airport’s sewer line and several dumpsters. As a result, they said, the infestation of flies and the smell of sewage were not only a health hazard, but also a turn off to the few customers that they attracted. In addition, the vendors who said they have been paying a monthly rental fee of $172.50, are being denied the benefit of the sales because of the new location. “When we came here the Airports Authority said they would build a place for us to vend but nothing has come out of that,” said vendor Khemraj Maharaj.  “Now they have put us here where we are out of the busy area, no one even knows we are here. 

If they do find us, there is nowhere for them to park to buy our doubles because the airport security threatens them with tickets,” he concluded. The vendors comprising Maharaj, Suruj Rampersad, Bhanath Cholai and Shawkat Ali Hanif are four of the 14 vendors who had moved from the area built for them next to the old terminal building.  The other ten still occupy those booths. The former AG, referring to the paying vendors as “protected persons,” said there were two issues involved in their case -  legal and political. He said he would initiate a meeting with the Airport Authority via a letter to meet and discuss the plight of the vendors.  If no steps were taken to deal with their plight, Maharaj said, they had the right to file for judicial review of the situation with the courts.

Regarding the complaints of the taxi drivers about their impending move to another area of the compound, the obstructions caused by the vendors and their customers and the security risk it posed to potential passengers, Maharaj advised that the association prepare a memorandum outlining their concerns and forward it to relevant officials at the Airports Authority.  He said he would provide free assistance with the memorandum.  “I want to put you on the right track to defend you legally and politically,” he told the drivers.  “All this is not isolated.  They want to run out the vendors and eventually have a different type of taxi service,” the former AG said. Officials at the Airports Authority could not be reached for comment.