Monday, April 7 2008

click on pic to zoom in

Back on the street: Vendors sell on Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain, yesterday even though Mayor Murchison Brown said they are no longer allowed to do...

Vendors took a chance yesterday to sell on Charlotte Street even though they had been warned not to do so by Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown.

The vendors said they returned to the street as most stores were closed and the traffic was light. They also plied their trade on Saturday, a busy shopping day in the capital.

The vendors yesterday sold a wide range of goods from ground provisions and vegetables to DVDs and clothing. They described the mayor’s decision to remove them from Charlotte Street as unfair and insist they never got advance notice.

Last Monday marked the end of the Charlotte Street Heritage Programme which had allowed vendors to sell three days a week on the western side of the street.

Since then, the vendors have protested outside of City Hall and on Charlotte Street demanding something be done to assist them.

Yesterday, the vendors reasoned that it was necessary to take these chances to support their families, and they were patiently waiting to see what results would come out of the Street Vendors Association meeting with Opposition Leader Basdeo Panday at his Port-of-Spain office today. Calls to the mayor’s office went unanswered.