Chaguanas vendors will have to move.
The association representing the vendors has lost its application for judicial review in the High Court.
Justice Kevin Ramcharan this morning dismissed their claim that the vendors had a legitimate expectation to remain and have their vending booths permanently established at the old Chaguanas health centre facility.
The mayor and councillors of the borough represented by attorneys Kelvin Ramkissoon argued that the vendors had failed to establish the right to a legitimate expectation based on the statements of former Minister of Works and Transport, Jack Warner.
Ramkissoon stated Warner had no authority to bind the Cabinet of Trinidad and Tobago, which operates on the principles of collective responsibility.
The court upheld the submission and ruled that Warner could not have created such an expectation.
Justice Ramcharan stated that he accepted the evidence of former mayor Orlando Nagessar.
The former mayor and mayor had stated that they had engaged in consultation with the vendors prior to the decision and that the site was now required as part of the spatial development plan to bring Chaguanas into city status.
The borough had argued that traffic and congestion in the city centre were endemic and stymied the growth of legitimate business.
Chaguanas is part of one of the four growth poles in the plan to make it a city.