Even as vendors who were asked to stop operating in front of PH Veira on Saturday 12, complained that people would not patronize their market stalls, Warden Clayton Burgin of the Kingstown Town Board told the St. Vincent Times on Monday that removing vendors from Kingstown streets is the right approach and should have happened a long time ago.
“I don’t know if persons can remember when we could have walked the streets of Kingstown in the 1970s, 1980s, and even the 1990s without being accosted by vendors.”
Despite the changes, Burgin asserts that no one is being displaced or made economically destitute as a result of the city’s cleanup.
“The thing is, we’re not displacing people or telling them they can’t vend; we’re simply finding better accommodation.” Many of the street vendors have space in the central market, but they use it for storage and sell on the street instead. Now, if everyone enters the market and you and I wish to purchase goods, we must go where it is”, he stated.
Burgin said that it is somewhat difficult to find space for those who carry out vending activities on Friday and Saturday, but the Town Board has a plan.
“Those that come on Friday and Saturday, those are mainly the challenge, but we have devised a strategy. We’ve decided to place tents and tables in the market’s yard because vendors are only present for a few hours on Fridays and Saturdays. We are attempting to accommodate everyone, but we want everything to be decent and beneficial for all”, Burgin said.
Over the years, the government has made significant efforts without success to regulate street vending in the capital city, Kingstown; however, this time, Burgin declares, “Its Clean up time!”
