Banks DIH to ask court to order removal of Demico vendors

Last Updated on Sunday, 28 January 2024, 8:22 by Denis Chabrol

Chairman and Managing Director of Banks DIH, Clifford Reis on Saturday said that after failed efforts with the Georgetown City Council to remove vendors from outside Demico, Stabroek, the company would be moving to the High Court to seek redress.

He told the hundreds of shareholders that over the years their company had made numerous efforts to remove the vendors from operating around that premises. They included letters t0 the Town Clerk, City Council, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Commander of the Regional Police Division to notify and ask them to cease those activities “but as to no avail; nothing has happened.”

“The Mayor and City Council initiated this plan but, however the results were not successful. Banks DIH Limited has no alternative now, my fellow shareholders, and we are contemplating now taking legal actions in the court to alleviate this problem just like what Muneshwer’s company has done,” he said.

Mr Reis made the announcement in response to a shareholder’s question, even as he noted that there had been drop in the number of customers to the downtown Demico branch causing the company to lose money. “My fellow shareholders, the number of clients going into our restaurants of Demico House has decreased. We can’t even get into the IDIHO building now. The restrooms and the toilets are being abused,” he said. “The company is losing finance at Demico House. The whole area is being abused and we just can’t continue to run a business under those conditions,” he added.

Mr Reis said the company’s lawyer recently dispatched a letter to the Mayor and City Council informing them about those activities, resulting in a meeting between company representatives and the Deputy Mayor, officers of the Markets Committee. “After the visit, they stated that they would implement a long-term strategy involving a policy to relocate the vendors and a short-term approach plan which is to clear the walls of the building and entrances,” he said.

If the company succeeds in securing the High Court order, it would be the second of its kind; the first having been by Muneshwer’s Limited on Water Street against vendors outside its branch on Water Street near Bounty Supermarket. More than 20 years ago, Queensway on Water Street had secured a similar court order and since then there has been hardly any vending on the pavement outside that store.

However, the Georgetown municipality has made little progress in moving the vendors from outside Muneshwer’s although a mutually agreed date of January 15, 2024 has passed.