By Petulia Clarke, Staff ReporterDESPITE THE Kingston and St Andrew Corporation's (KSAC) drive to get illegal higglers off the streets of downtown Kingston, street vending in the commercial district remain as hectic as ever with a few new twists.
Officers from the Metropolitan Parks and Markets (MPM) and the police have been marshalled to warn the vendors and seize their goods. But still, KSAC Commercial Services manager Gary Robotham has admitted to being baffled as vendors cleared off streets return the next day trying to outsmart the MPM.
As the cat-and-mouse game between the two groups continues, the vendors remain determined to cash in on sales over the busy Christmas season.
Despite the resistance, the KSAC maintains what it calls "zero tolerance" for those who've asked that the relocation be put off until after the busy season.
Chairperson of the KSAC's Commercial Ser-vices Committee, Angela Brown-Burke, insisted yesterday that there was no plan to let the vendors be for the Christmas season. There are no stalls on the sidewalks or piazzas anymore, but the sellers have become creative. Many store their goods in alley ways between store buildings and peddle some on the streets.
Customers of shoe and belt vendors on King Street who are willing, lounge beside the more expensive stores, while their correct sizes are quickly sought by eager sellers in an alley a few metres away. Watchmen have been employed to shout when the authorities in blue approach. Cries of 'MPM, MPM' elicit swift movement, and crowded streets are cleared in minutes.
Mr Robotham said that the MPM has no intention of just seizing goods the first time around. He said that first there's a warning. The vendors are told to leave the streets and sell in the arcades allotted for that. But after warnings are ignored, he said that the goods are seized -- the goods of those who can't run fast enough -- and kept in storage until the unfortunate vendor can pay the $500 to claim them.
But though the sidewalks are no longer blocked, business continues apace. Those who get past MPM, some of those now made mobile, sell from huge crocus bags, leaning casually against the walls on King, Orange and Beckford Streets, waiting for the interested customer to pass by. Then the rush is on to peddle socks, T-shirts, make-up, toys and jewellery.
Though plans are in place to make the district more attractive, alley ways between shop buildings on Princess Street are filled with brightly coloured brassieres and shirts on hangers and men pushing handcarts still peddle huge coloured wash buckets. Van drivers who dare, converge at one end of Beckford Street, selling jeans and with no changing area, women opt to try on their purchase right on spot.
Mrs Brown-Burke said that the illegal vendors, especially along Beckford and Princess streets which are considered the most lucrative areas are most resistant.
"It's like a test," she said. "In the past they have been allowed to sell during the Christmas season, so despite what we say, they're trying to see if the same thing will happen."
Meanwhile Dunstan Whitting-ham, general secretary of the Jamaica Vendors, Higglers and Markets Association, continues to support the relocation and said that vendors from his association have co-operated and moved into the arcade.
Others remain militant, using what they can of the busiest shopping season despite the efforts of the KSAC, the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce and more than $20 million spent by the Government to refurbish facilities in the market district.
In November, vendors staged a massive protest and caused a one-day shutdown of business in downtown Kingston.
Mrs Brown-Burke said that although the KSAC was experiencing setbacks, the presence of police and MPM personnel on the streets will continue "until they (the vendors) see that we are serious".
Mr Robotham said that he was pleased at the overall response by some vendors to the removal process. He said that the department continued to work hard at it, and though there were still problem streets the method of seizing goods was working at ensuring that vendors understand the seriousness of the exercise.
