By Ruth Coombs, Freelance WriterTHE REMOVAL of vendors from the streets of Portmore that was scheduled to take place on Saturday, was postponed.
Chairman of the Portmore Civic Committee, Colin Fagan, speaking on the weekend , said, "The exercise had to be put off, as there were no members of the Solid Waste Management to assist as was originally planned." Councillor Fagan said that no new date had been arranged for the removal of the vendors.
Meanwhile, the St. Catherine Health Department has hit out strongly at the vending activities currently taking place in Portmore, claiming that this contributes to a health and environmental hazard as there is no proper garbage collection system, no proper running water and no proper sanitation.
Speaking with one of the vendors yesterday, selling in front of the Portmore Mall, Monica Blackwell, she said several of the vendors are prepared to be removed, but the site which has been offered to them is totally unacceptable as it is in a open, dirt section of Portmore, which is dusty and without proper facilities for vending.
The vendors are calling on the St. Catherine Parish Council, which served the notices of removal to them, to have the place given to them to do vending properly fixed and secured with fencing to accommodate them before they can be removed from the streets of Portmore.
Efforts to contact the administration of the St. Catherine Parish Council proved futile.
