Sando' vendors chased, but find

Vendors who were removed from High Street, San Fernando earlier this week and advised by Mayor Ian Atherly to use the Rodriguez Building at King’s Wharf, San Fernando, complained yesterday that there is no room for them in the building.

Some have moved to the Debe market, Gulf View Link Road, side streets, while others have returned to High Street to sell their goods, playing a cat and mouse game with police. The Rodriguez Building is occupied by vendors who were relocated from San City People’s Mall to make way for the Chancery Lane Administration Complex.

Although the Rodriguez Building is only half full with vendors on most days, the empty stalls are owned by others who refuse to turn out because of the lack of security in the area, Newsday was told.

When Newsday visited the building yesterday, only a handful of stalls were occupied by several clothes vendors while a few who sold soft drink and food stationed themselves outside.

Chancery Lane Vendors Association president Pajgooram Lalgee said while the building appeared half full, all of the available stalls were already allocated to the association’s members.

“There is no room here for anyone else. In fact, over 50 percent of the retail clothes vendors were not able to get any spaces or collect any money as compensation for the move from Chancery Lane to here,” he said. He said each vendor had received an estimated $8,000 as compensation for the relocation.

But Lalgee described the move from San City to Rodriguez as “the worst possible” event for the vendors as sales had become non-existent and Udecott has not placed promised advertisements to attract customers.

“In fact, we don’t even know what is going on because they also said that when the Blind Welfare moved from the other side of the building, we would get that side as well. But that looks like that will not happen anytime soon,” he said.

He said the association sent letters to Udecott on January 12 and February 21, requesting a meeting but got no reply.

Meanwhile, the pavements of San Fernando remained clear for yet another day as officers of the San Fernando City Corporation kept up the crackdown on illegal vending.