Noel Thompson Freelance writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
IN WHAT appears to be a declaration of war against rampant streetside selling, the Mayor of Montego Bay, Hugh Solomon, says vendors will be "eradicated" from the city's sidewalks.
"We will not be sitting around like lame ducks and allow the vendors to take over the streets of Montego Bay," said the Mayor speaking with The Gleaner.
He was responding to concerns that have arisen in the city in the wake of the wanton take over by scores of vendors of some of the city's streets, particularly the busy St. James Street, which is a major thoroughfare and key shopping corridor.
He noted that the Parish Council has not given up on what is amounting to a mammoth task of ridding the streets of vending.
"We have renewed the force along with the St. James police to eradicate the streets of this practice. There are prescribed areas to accommodate vendors, namely the Charles Gordon Market and the People's Arcade. We are going to ensure that these are the areas utilised by the vendors," he said.
But over the past several years, the police, the Parish Council, the business community as well as several other local agencies have been lobbying relentlessly to rid the streets of Montego Bay of illegal vending, but have been unsuccessful in their efforts.
The sellers who come from as far as Kingston and St. Thomas, are especially evident in the city from Thursdays to Saturdays, selling their dry goods from every available sidewalk space downtown.
Most recently, they have been joined by mango vendors, many of whom vend the succulent fruit from the trunks of motor vehicles.
The vendors remain despite sustained raids and a reported 200 or more of them being arrested since the start of the year.
Questioned as to what new method is likely to be implemented to serve as a deterrent to the vendors, Mayor Solomon said: "I think that as long as the police are vigilant and deal with the matter as how it is to be dealt with, then the vendors will realise that it is not just a one week thing."
He promised that the Council and the Police would be sustaining the anti-street vending drive for as long as it takes, but adds that the initiative also needs the support of the judicial system, by imposing stiffer fines on convicted vendors.
"If these areas are addressed, I think they would alleviate some of the vending problems we now face," said the Mayor.
He noted that in the meantime a new management structure is being contemplated for the People's Arcade, the Old Fort Craft Market, as well as the Byron Leslie Fishing Complex, all of which falls under the local authority's jurisdiction.
"We are hoping to find someone to design a plan to upgrade these facilities to make them become more conducive to vendors and buyers and to ensure that the users of these facilities pay their monthly rent," he noted.
Reacting to the recent killing of a pedestrian by a vendor, Mayor Solomon said he had hoped that the street vending situation would not have reached that stage.
"The threat had always been there and it has gone to the extreme now. I am taken aback to know that someone stepped on another's toe and ended up being killed for it," Mr. Solomon said.
Craig England, 28-year-old mason of Green Pond, St. James, was the victim of an alleged knife-wielding Kingston-based vendor called 'Strength' on whose toes he accidentally stepped while walking along Barnett Street, two weeks ago. 'Strength' remains on the run.
