Trading spaces in the capital: The Demico House matter

It was always inevitable that, at some stage, Banks DIH Ltd., would move to call time on the assorted vendors with whom the company has had to share the space housing Demico House for several years. After all, there is no good reason why what is almost the oldest Restaurant/Fast food facility in the capital would not, having paid its dues, want to reap the benefits from what promises to be a vastly expanded ‘oil-driven’ economy. If one were to put this to Banks’ Board of Directors they are certain to say that there was no joy in having what was once one of the most recognized upscale Restaurants/Snackette in the capital being compelled to trade cheek by jowl with assorted vendors/traders, some offering goods that go way beyond food and drinks, the various ‘inconveniences’ almost certainly seriously interfering with Demico House’s bottom line.

It is, of course, hardly necessary to state that moving to the courts always appeared likely to become an eventual option if Banks was to at least make an effort to turn the situation around. Here one feels compelled to make the point that the situation which now confronts the company is a throwback to the historic woeful indifference of the local and central government authorities to take any kind of serious initiative to bring a sense of order to trading in the capital. Unsurprisingly, the situation reached a point where Banks appeared altogether overwhelmed by the situation. What currently obtains in the space housing Demico House - in much of the area at the front of the complex and on the pavement on its western side is, to say the least, altogether unacceptable for a facility that has worked hard over a number of years to keep its standards up. Here it has to be said that it is an indictment on both the municipality and central government that such a situation was allowed to persist over several years without some kind of robust official intervention to remove what Banks DIH now sees as a situation that has become sufficiently overbearing to warrant the intervention of the courts.

Here, the point should also be made that Banks DIH’s decision to seek the intervention of the courts is directly related to having the problem effectively addressed by either the municipality or the police. Indeed, what has obtained, over time, was a decidedly harum-scarum urban street vending regime that has been characterized by intermittent City Hall crackdowns and what, in some instances, were proven allegations of corrupt practices, including shakedowns by City Police functionaries. It was this that provided the oxygen that made possible the

survival of an urban vending regime that grew continually in the extent of the encumbrance (and worse) that it represented. Where the decision by Banks DIH to resort to the courts is concerned, one suspects that it is a precursor to a business decision that it has made to significantly upgrade the various services offered by Demico House, a move which it clearly cannot make without first addressing the issue of the host of vendors of one sort or another that share the same space with its existing complex.

The situation speaks volumes for what continues to be the indifference of both central government and the Georgetown municipality to the importance of striking a more robust take charge posture in the matter of bringing a sense of order and conviviality to the capital that is consistent with what would now appear to be our petro-driven ambition to be recognized as country on the rise. If Banks DIH Ltd., altogether, cannot be blamed for what, over time, has been the invasion of its space by assorted traders, it has to be said that its decision to move to the courts in circumstance where it appeared that the company was very much in the right, took its own sweet time. It had every right, long before now, to go down that road though one imagines that Banks would have had its reasons for not doing so before now.

Of course, it need hardly be said that the fact that it must seek recourse in the courts to have exclusive right of occupancy of its own premises is a sad reflection of the condition of decay into which the delinquency of both local and central governments have allowed us to slide, over the years. Harsh as it might seem, it was the twin conditions of indifference and corruption that got us there in the first place. Of course, the absolute right of Banks to have sole access to all of its premises brings into focus, simultaneously, the need for government to create suitably appointed and convivial spaces/facilities in which legitimate small businesses can trade.