Mayor bans San Fernando High Street vendors

ALL vending has been banned at High Street, San Fernando until further notice.

San Fernando Mayor Junia Regrello said this is because the number of unauthorised vendors has been rapidly increasing.

This ban was announced in a brief release issued on Tuesday but dated March 12 by the city corporation. No reason was given in the release, and some vendors have still been trying their luck since the announcement.

But speaking with Newsday on Wednesday morning, Regrello said he has received several complaints from business owners and pedestrians "about their inability to traverse the streets."

Before the ban, along High Street, there would be several stalls set up either on the pavements or the road itself, which commonly obstruct vehicular and pedestrian traffic.

Vendors were previously allowed to sell on Mondays, Fridays and Saturdays.

Regrello said last year, he met with the Vendors' Association and it was agreed that the 63 registered vendors could sell there.

"We extended the period for Christmas," he said, "which saw the numbers of vendors move from 63 to over 200. The numbers have since increased to over 300."It's against this background that the association was called in, where they were told that the council made a decision to temporarily terminate vending, and requested a list of the regular vendors who we would authorise going forward."