PORTIA SIMPSON Miller, Minister of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, is to head a group which will examine the problems of sidewalk vending in downtown Kingston with a view to putting in place improvement strategies, starting next year.
The issue is part of the urban renewal proposals put forward by the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce (JCC) and agreed on during a meeting with the Minister at her office at Hagley Park Road, St. Andrew, on Friday.
Both the Chamber and the Minister have also agreed that the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) should put in place temporary additional vending areas for the Christmas season.
Stakeholders are to agree on the locations of the new vending areas when the KSAC, vendors and representatives of the downtown Kingston business community meet again with Mrs. Simpson Miller this week.
Vendors said they have a problem with the way the KSAC was going about destroying their stalls, but the municipal authority has been given the go-ahead to continue clean-up efforts.
As part of the urban renewal plan, the KSAC is expected to complete the implementation of the infrastructure necessary for a municipal enforcement authority.
On infrastructure, Errol Greene, the Town Clerk, who also attended the meeting, said the KSAC had already begun seizing goods from vendors on 'no-vending' streets and would continue such efforts with the recent procurement of a building to house the seized goods.
Vendors will pay transportation and storage costs for the seized goods, as well as $10,000, $15,000 or $20,000 fines based on whether the seizure was a first, second or multiple offence. Mr. Greene said the KSAC had also sought to acquire a van to transport the goods. The vehicle should be in the KSAC's possession by tomorrow, he said.
