MANDEVILLE, Manchester:
VENDORS WHO once had control of the streets in the heart of Mandeville where they peddled their wares are now finding it very difficult to continue that practice because of the stepped up efforts of the Manchester Parish Council to rid the streets of illegal sellers.
The Council which earlier this year established its own cadre of municipal police to enforce regulations falling under its jurisdiction, adapted a no-nonsense attitude towards vending on the streets, after an outcry by residents.
As a result, the municipal police officers have been confiscating vendors goods, and have put several violators before the Resident Magistrate's Court. This new effort came after years of complaints by residents and motorists, who found it difficult to navigate the streets of the town.
The Manchester Chamber of Commerce had also voiced its displeasure with the vendors on the streets from as early as 1996, with then Chamber presidents, Donald Allen and Stafford Haughton calling for stiffer measures by the Parish Council. The towns merchants and Southern Parks and Markets also claimed that the vendors were primarily responsible for littering the town's streets, and causing traffic congestion on Manchester Road and Park Crescent Avenue.
However, Deputy Mayor of Mandeville, Brenda Ramsay, said in a recent meeting of the Parish Council, that she has noticed that over recent months, some vendors have taken up new positions on the Winston Jones highway, near the round-about.
Mayor Horace Williams has ordered the Council's Superin-tendent of Roads and Works to investigate with a view to removing those vendors who are not authorised to vend on lands adjoining the highway.
