City swoops on Giftland Mall, removes signs
– no notice given
A team from the Mayor and City Council “unlawfully” removed several signs from the access road and compound of the Giftland Mall, the company said yesterday.
According to a release from the company, around 12 pm yesterday, the M&CC sent a delegation of “heavily armed guards” and workers to the mall and removed all the parking signage from the access road and the compound, without any prior notice.
A source from City Hall yesterday confirmed that workers from the council removed the signs from the mall after they received complaints of blockages.
“These included diplomatic parking and car parking signage along with barriers which are property of the Giftland Mall. The fact that this was done without prior notice shows the lawlessness which the authorities had stooped to, in order to satisfy the interest of certain private individuals,” the Giftland statement added. It pointed out that the access road was built and paid for by the company’s “own funds” with the exception of 1½ inches of asphalt surfacing from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure. The road has not been gazetted as being part of any government property.
The statement went on to state that the company viewed the M&CC’s actions as “anti-business. There has been ongoing discussion with the city concerning issues as it relates to the access to the Boyer Land Development, which is the root cause of this action. This act, which should have been directed and coordinated with the local police station, was unilateral, boycotting protocol and without any attempted negotiations.” It added that the council’s action threatens the mall’s well-being due to the heavy traffic congestion which is experienced daily and the removal of the signs, which were all paid for by the mall, will lead to chaos during the peak traffic periods.
The statement said that Giftland Mall was putting the City Council on notice that its actions would be closely monitored. It pointed to “heavy-handed manner” in which the agenda of certain persons was being carried out against lawabiding corporate business operating in Guyana.
The statement added that the company suspects the council’s action was a backlash for its current campaign of free parking, “which may not be sitting well with the architects of the failed parking meters in the capital.”
City Hall has repeatedly responded to requests for assistance from Pattensen residents by claiming that the area was not yet regularized and under the purview of the council. Despite this claim, its workers yesterday removed the signs from the mall’s parapets.