George Henry, Freelance Writer
SPALDINGS, Clarendon:
THE ANTI-VENDING Unit in the Jamaica Constabulary Force has been successful in ridding the streets of Christiana and Spaldings in Manchester and Clarendon of vending over the past three weeks. However the unit's success appears to have been short-lived.
A visit to both rural towns yesterday by The Sunday Gleaner showed that vendors have started to re-appear on the streets, defying the orders issued by the lawmen for them not to sell their wares on the street.
Along Wildman Street in Christiana, adjacent to the municipal market which was an eyesore with the influx of vendors over three weeks ago, has started to resemble what residents has become accustomed to over the many years. But sections of the market remain unoccupied.
Last week when a check was made on the town to see if the vendors were carrying out the orders of the Anti-Vending Unit, it was noticed that Wildman Street, which was usually, a buzz of activities hardly had any vendors, customers and vehicles contributing to traffic congestion.
However, yesterday was a huge difference as vendors, customers and vehicles were out in their numbers along that street and the build up of traffic, which contributes to the congestion in the Manchester town, was evident.
When The Sunday Gleaner spoke with a few of the vendors to ascertain the reasons for their re-appearance on the street, the reply was that there was not sufficient vending space inside the market. However, contrary to what was said, a check inside the facility revealed that there were several empty stalls waiting to be occupied.
One customer who was upset with the vendors' defiance of the orders of the Anti-Vending Unit was overheard saying that it was because the vendors wanted to make quick sales why they were continuing to sell on the street. Several other customers who insisted that they were not going to purchase anything from the vendors until they return to the market shared that sentiment.
Over at the Spaldings Municipal Market some distance away, the situation was much different. Vendors who were ordered into the market to trade their wares were much more orderly.
Unlike their colleagues over in the town of Christiana the vendors in the Clarendon town refused to sell on the streets and were seen in an unusual large number trading their wares inside the over 50-year-old market.
However, although they were told by the Anti-Vending Unit that no selling was to carried out along the driveway on the compound of the facility, a few were seen there trying to make quick sales. According to the few with whom The Sunday Gleaner spoke, the inside of the Spaldings market is unable to accommodate all the vendors and so a few had to sell along the driveway. The vendors are calling on the Clarendon Parish Council to take the necessary steps in making the facility more accommodating to them.
When the Anti-Vending Unit visited the market last week, several stalls, which were along the driveway and in the vicinity of the facility, were destroyed. One fish van was also towed away when the vendor refused to remove his vehicle when he was told to do so by the lawmen.
Since the removal of the vendors from the streets of Spaldings, traffic has been flowing much smoother and the usual bottleneck effect, which motorists had become accustomed to over the years, especially on weekends, was non-existent.
