THE MISMANAGED attempt to relocate vendors in downtown Kingston fizzled in futility yesterday. Instead, parades of defiant vendors in effect forced the shutdown of the main commercial sector as stores and other business places pulled their shutters.
After weeks of indecisive planning by the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC), business ground to a halt in the downtown heart of the capital city.
The failure was compounded by a familiar malady: gun violence from drive-by shootings which left at least eight dead between Friday night and yesterday. It was a tension-filled weekend which spawned roadblocks at several intersections.
Fearful residents resorted to this ploy, they say, to deter mobile gunmen from shooting up their communities. Several such impediments affected the smooth flow of traffic in downtown Kingston; and many motorists, including bus drivers, were forced to disobey one-way street signs adding to the traffic hazards.
Yesterday was the third deadline set for the vendor relocation exercise. But the hesitant and ambivalent leadership from all the stakeholders involved began to go awry soon after the initial impetus from the Chamber of Commerce.
The first mistake, from the Chamber itself, was to suggest that at least two of the busiest streets should be exempted from the relocation exercise; then came a note of politics in the JLP objection to PNP "activists" being part of the new management board. Then the intrusion of gun violence heightened tension throughout the sector.
In those circumstances it is understandable that the police took to the streets from as early as 3 o'clock yesterday morning along Beckford, Princess, and Orange Streets and South Parade. They thus forestalled any trading by the vendors arriving later.
Possible mayhem was thus averted but normal business was dead for the day. Business interests are thus pessimistic about the prospects for the Christmas season. Unless Santa Claus intervenes with some good cheer.
The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner.
