THE EDITOR, Sir:WHAT A shame and disgrace in Half-Way Tree last weekend! From Friday, May 12, right through to Sunday, May 14, about 25 new sidewalk vendors massively invaded all the sidewalks in Half-Way Tree, particularly the one beside York Pharmacy which is supposed to be 'smack in the middle of Half-Way Tree' - at the corner of Hagley Park and Half-Way Tree roads.
Where were all the police - headquartered just around the corner at the police station on Maxfield Avenue? Where was the Metropolitan Parks and Markets 'raiding party' that has so successfully cleared up the vendors at the top of Hagley Park Road?
Don't the police radio patrol cars that zip up and down through Half-Way Tree so frequently see this congestion on the sidewalk? With all their gaily decorated and colourful gifts for Mother's Day, these could not be missed!
Don't ordinary taxpaying pedestrians have rights of clear passage on our sidewalks without having to dodge over, around and between cartons of merchandise and teeming vendors?
Has Mayor McKenzie's 'sidewalk clean-up campaign' suddenly ground to a halt? Or has he suddenly got 'cold feet'? Or orders to 'back off'?
If all the above 'public servants' are no longer going to perform their duties to keep the city clean, why are we bothering to invite thousands of Cricket World Cup visitors to witness our fair city and its squalor?
Answers are urgently needed - followed by the requisite ACTION.
Is there hope for Kingston?
I am, etc.,
L. G. MOODIE
