WhittinghamDUNSTAN WHITTINGHAM, head of the Higglers, Markets and Vendors Association, said last Friday that his association will encourage vendors to stay away from downtown, Kingston tomorrow, but vowed to fight any removal of illegal vendors from its streets until they are included in talks about redeveloping and restoring order to the area.
He said vendors should stay away if merchants closed their stores tomorrow to protest against Government's failure to restore order to downtown, because it would protect them from being harassed by "thugs" who try to take advantage of the lockdown.
He said the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce's (JCC) urban renewal committee met with vendors last Thursday. But, he was hopping mad over vendor exclusion from discussions held between the JCC; Local Government Minister, Arnold Bertram; Town Clerk, Errol Greene and officials at the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) earlier this week.
"If we don't meet and come up with an MOU (memorandum of understanding), we are not in any agreement with anybody removing any vendors. It will be confrontation upon confrontation. We are not in any agreement with any discussion (which) take place between the JCC and Minister of local Government without the vendors involvement through their association and members. We are very upset about it," he said, adding that vendors will not support any plans formulated during discussions that did not include them or their representatives.
"We're gonna make the KSAC know that any attempt to move vendors under any false pretext will be met with relentless struggle. We are not backing down," he warned.
"What we are saying is that we are in support of any action which is to bring about change but we are not in support of any action which does not include us in dialogue," Mr. Whittingham asserted, commenting that redevelopment, reorganisation of Kingston, relocation and removal of vendors and revaluation need dialogue.
