By Denise Clarke, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
THE PROBLEM of street vending in Montego Bay could be solved, if designated vending areas are set up in the downtown commercial district, according to new Member of Parliament Dr. Horace Chang.
Dr. Chang, who was sworn in last Thursday, suggested in an interview with The Gleaner that open lots which have been set aside for use as car parks, could instead be designated vending areas, as a move to rid the city's streets of illegal vending. "While I'm not encouraging breaking the law, we have to be practical and there could be other areas in the commercial centres, if we look at the total development of Montego Bay where we can provide spaces for small business near to the commercial centre," Dr. Chang said.
In the short term, however, he is proposing that night vending, which is already a major practice in the second city, could be considered as an immediate option. "We have to compromise now where the people come out at nights and sell... it could always be part of a long-term solution where people come out at certain hours and sell," he stated.
It is estimated that about 600 vendors are plying their trade on the streets of the resort town, all of whom the St. James Parish Council maintain can be accommodated in the People's Arcade. Occasionally, the vendors are removed in a joint exercise between the Council and the police. However, they usually return in greater numbers, with a common cry that there are no patrons in the People's Arcade. Dr. Chang contended that the arcade is not a commercially viable site for the vendors, and said they should not be forced to relocate there, but he also charged that they should not be allowed to block the entrances to businesses either.
"I think it is a wrong decision to move them there... it doesn't make sense, they are not going to make any money but we can't crowd the shop doors either. We have to find a more commercially viable venue, then we can insist that people go there. Until then, I think we have to compromise, but a way must be found to give them some opportunity to earn a decent living," Dr. Chang declared. He insists that the arcade would not be a suitable site for the relocation of the vendors, mainly due to its location adjacent to the municipal bus park.
Instead, he suggests that Parish Council car park lots, created by paving of the areas above the Montego Bay Flood Control and Drainage Project (the South Gully), are more suitable sites for vending. At present, the car parks are largely under-utilised.
"It's an appropriate site for the public, I think we could relocate some haberdashery vendors, not food vendors of course. It's a prime commercial area and rather than use it for some big shopping centre, just give the small people an opportunity and then insist they stay there," he stated.
Dr. Chang said local authorities should examine the facilities within which they are asking the vendors to trade, and also should pay more attention to the proper administration of these facilities. He cited the Charles Gordon Market, which he said, has been without water for several months.
In the long term, the new MP suggested that the space, which will be created in the Railway Gardens community where the residents are proposed to be moved under the government's Relocation 2000 programme, is a prime location for development into a major market facility.
