By Robert Lalah, Staff ReporterTHE SPANISH Town bypass in St. Catherine has in recent months been transformed into a thriving business location where transactions galore take place each day. Goods ranging in nature from kitchen furniture to donuts and auto accessories to phone cards, are being sold along the roadway. The number of vendors, including several small children, offering goods for sale along this stretch of road has grown significantly over the past few months and with this increase has come complaints from motorists.
OUT OF HAND
Jermain Beckford, a university student from Spanish Town who travels on the bypass at least two times a day, says the situation is getting out of hand. "They stand in the middle of the road which is really very dangerous. Sometimes when you decide to switch lanes you don't see them until at the last second and you have to swing out of the way to avoid an accident." he said. "They also contribute to traffic congestion on the roads because when the drivers decide to buy from them, they (the drivers) just stop in the middle of the road." added Beckford.
When The Gleaner visited the area last week, vendors were out in large numbers. Some 40 vendors, many boasting well decorated stalls depicting advertisements from major corporations, stood alongside as well as in the middle of the busy highway. Several motorists were seen manoeuvring their vehicles around the vendors who stood in the middle of the road clutching buckets full of frozen water bottles and balancing stacks of donut boxes. Just beside the road, at a makeshift carwash, two vehicles were being cleaned while another was parked waiting to be washed.
A MAJOR PROBLEM
Mayor of Spanish Town, Dr. Raymoth Notice says vending on the Spanish Town bypass, particularly on the section of the road between De La Vega City and Food for the Poor, is a major problem which needs to be dealt with immediately. He says the area falls under the management of the National Works Agency (NWA) and so it is imperative that they work in co-operation with his office to alleviate the problem. "The vendors create a very dangerous situation. We therefore are in the process of preparing encroachment notices for the NWA, so that the vendors will be removed as quickly as possible." he says.
Dr. Notice also states that a campaign would soon be initiated in the heart of Spanish Town to clear the area of illegal vendors once and for all, adding that eliminating vending on the bypass would complement this effort.
The vendors are however adamant that they are doing nothing wrong and that they will not relocate. "Wi naw harm nobody, a long time wi deh out ya a work an' it nuh cause nuh problem" said a female vendor. Others also said that they are not out on the bypass by choice but through necessity. "You tink di hustling easy? If wi coulda do better wi wouldn't dey out ya. Life ruff fi wi so wi affi do what wi can fi survive," said a peanut vendor.
