Tuesday, May 27 2008

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Up and away: Police officers guide a vendor's cart hoisted by a crane on to a truck during a crackdown on illegal vending at the corner of Henry Stree...

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Police clamped down on illegal vending in Port-of-Spain yesterday, as vendors’ carts, some still stocked with goods, were hoisted onto trucks and carried away.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Raymond Craig led a joint operation of officers from the City Police, traffic and highway patrol divisions and the Licensing Division, who had vendors’ carts removed from Independence Square. Cranes were used to lift the carts from off the streets and they were placed in trucks and taken away.

Marleen Lewis, who said she has been a vendor for 25 years, angrily demanded to know how she would care for her six children. Lewis claimed the police seized her cart of snacks and soft drinks, which she estimated to be valued at $12,000.

“They (city authorities) say we have till tomorrow to register and they picking up things today (yesterday),” said Lewis. ACP Craig and the team of about 30 officers also charged drivers for offences ranging from illegal tint to illegal licence plates.

ACP Craig said the vendors had to be removed to allow for the free flow of pedestrian and vehicular traffic on the city’s streets. He said the vendors carts were a health hazard to commuters.

“The operation is a continuous one as the city attempts to address the problem of hindrance of movement created by these vending carts,” he said.

Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown had left his office for the day and his secretary was not in when attempts to reach him for a comment were made yesterday.