South cops crack down on illegal street vending

WITHIN the past three weeks, 24 persons were arrested for illegal vending in San Fernando. According to police sources, offences arising out of these arrests included the selling of marketable commodities without a licence from the City Corporation, pitching stalls illegally and obstructing the free passageway of pedestrians.

Apart from these charges, some of the illegal vendors had additional charges of resisting arrest, obstructing police officers in the execution of their duty and using obscene language. San Fernando city police have mainly concentrated their anti-street vending efforts along High Street. They have also sought to stop the practice at Gulf City and the Gulf View Link Road. Efforts to stop illegal street vending have gone as far as Marabella, with police warning fruit vendors against the act via loud speaker microphones. Head of Southern Division Snr Supt Desmond Lambert is leading the anti-street vending initiative with groundwork being marshalled by ASP Sydney Corbett and Ag Insp Frank James. Assistance to the police has come from Sgt Arjoon, Cpl Gabriel, PC Charles, PC Baboolal and WPC Maraj, all of the San Fernando city police.

Police sources said vendors often play cat-and-mouse games with the police, selling their goods in the officers’ absence and scrambling to move their items off the pavements and pathways just before the officers arrive. Police said the vendors were operating with a lookout system, in which persons stand lookout for the police at strategic points and then text-message the vendors, warning them of the impending danger via cellular phones. But police have countered the vendors’ surveillance work with the use of plainclothes officers who patrol areas known for illegal vending activities, and relay their information to the police who are waiting nearby. The police have promised to step up their anti-street vending initiative in light of the upcoming Christmas season.