St James, dubbed "The City That Never Sleeps", popular as a drinking and liming place, will now be going to bed a little earlier than usual, according to Port-of-Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing. Furthermore, those who seek out fast food vendors in St James will no longer find them on the streets but in the St James Market. Mayor Lee Sing, responding to numerous complaints from residents of the area, has sought the intervention of the police to get bars in the St James and Woodbrook areas to close up shop at 3 am. "The police got bar owners together and read the riot act to them.
"They have to stop selling liquor at 2 am and close at 3 am," Lee Sing disclosed at yesterday's statutory meeting of the Port-of-Spain Corporation. In addition, those seeking renewal of bar licences in the St James and Woodbrook areas, would have their opening hours further reduced, he said. Lee Sing has written to the Chief Magistrate asking that all renewals of bar licences should stipulate that there should be no more drinking in bars after 12 midnight and that all bars should close at 1 am. He has also asked that the corporation be represented at each bar licence renewal. The mayor said raucous behaviour by bar patrons prompted the move.
He said after 2 am, after excessive bouts of drinking, limers urinated on residents' fences, caused their car alarms to go off and, generally, were a nuisance in the neighbourhood. "The police had to step in and take remedial action. They had to ask owners to reduce their hours," he said. He said bar owners were in agreement with the new closing hours. "All of this is to assist in the reduction of hardship to residents," he added. All food vendors in St James and Woodbrook will be taken off the streets, as well, the Mayor vowed. "We will be converting the St James Market to a food court (where the vendors will be relocated)," he said.
It doesn't stop there, either. Those wanting new bar and restaurant licences in the Woodbrook area, in particular, may not get it. Lee Sing has recommended that no new licences be granted for the Woodbrook area. He said: "Every other building is a bar or pub. There is a proliferation of bars on Ariapita Avenue, in particular." The mayor said people park on the side of the street and cause problems for residents, some of whom may be ill and elderly.