Senior Multimedia Reporterradhica.sookraj@guardian.co.tt
Time has run out for street vendors who were granted a reprieve to sell their goods on High Street, San Fernando, during the Christmas season.
From today the police will be out in full force to curb illegal vending as San Fernando Mayor Robert Parris establishes alternate vending zones away from the city centre.
President of the High Street Vendors Association, Cheryl Lawrence, wants the Mayor to reconsider that decision.
“On Thursday, we asked for a meeting. They told us we would be put near the train, but we have not seen anything done yet. We were under the impression that we would be given an extension,” Lawrence said.
She said vending on Mucuparo Street and Harris Promenade would be problematic and she is appealing to Mayor Parris not to remove them from the heart of San Fernando.
“If they put vendors by the train, everybody cannot go there because the space is too small,” she said.
Another vendor, Neil Edwards, argued that High Street was the best place to sell and expressed reservations about Harris Promenade and the increased traffic from schools.
Edwards denied that vendors were leaving the streets dirty and claimed that they bring in customers for store owners.
Jai Maharaj, called for another meeting with the Mayor to discuss an alternate proposal. He suggested implementing a one-cut or two-cut space, charging vendors some money, and regulating them rather than removing them from the High Street.
“People have to live, and we cannot survive down by the market or on the Promenade,” he said.
However, Mayor Parris maintained that the vendors were given five months to propose an alternative and failed to do so. While he is open to dialogue, he emphasised the effect of illegal vending on legitimate merchants and store owners.
“We have to remember there are more persons affected by this than just the vendors. There are merchants, legitimate businesses who are affected,” Parris said.
He expressed sympathy for store owners on High Street, stating: “I have no problems talking to any of the vendors, but I am not going to talk to a mob of them all together. I want to talk to people who make sense.
“We told them that on the 15th of January, we would stop High Street vending. We sent out a circular and they never made an alternate proposal for me to take to the business chambers. We are within our rights to move these vendors.”
Parris said street vending had become unmanageable and this led to the creation of designated vending zones. He proposed using the area near the train and the old bandstand to facilitate some vendors, ensuring a facelift can be done to the city while strictly regulating all vending.
He said numerous complaints about blocked pavements, hindering of pedestrians and traffic and garbage left on the streets over the last five months were the reasons for discontinuing vending on High Street.
