(Trinidad Express) All Charlotte Street vendors who are not citizens of Trinidad and Tobago were on Monday refused licences to vend in the Charlotte Street Heritage Programme, which comes on stream at the end of this month.
A group of African, Grenadian, Guyanese and Vincentians gathered at City Hall, Port of Spain, only to be turned away by the administration.
Some of the vendors have been selling on the streets of Port of Spain since the mid-80s. Guyanese vendor Clairann Andrews said the decision to only allow those with citizenship to vend was an act of discrimination. Andrews and a number of vendors displayed their identification cards along with other legal documents, including certificates of residency.
“Why is it that around election time our ID is valid so that we can vote and we can use it to conduct business, but they are now telling us that we cannot use it to get a licence to vend?” Andrews asked.
“I’m abiding by the rules and regulations and now I am being deprived of vending. If it is my choice that I not be a citizen of this country, do I have to be victimised like this and not be allowed to vend?”
Andrews and other angry vendors said they were prepared to defy the rule and ply their trade in order to feed their families. However, they are now calling on Local Government Minister, Senator Hazel Manning, to reconsider and give non-nationals a chance to vend when the programme begins. But Coordinator of the Charlotte Street Heritage Programme, Margaret McDowall-Thompson, said the laws of the land will not be bent to accommodate the vendors.
“The programme is for citizens of Trinidad and Tobago only. We have to give precedence to our citizens. Since the Ministry of Local Government has taken over the programme we are going by the rules. We are sympathetic to the vendors, many of whom have been vending for years, but at the end of the day, the law is the law,” she said.
Vending on Charlotte Street has been mired in controversy since March 30, when the Charlotte Street Heritage Programme was terminated following complaints of illegal and uncontrolled vending on the streets.
In May, Manning announced in Parliament that vending in Charlotte Street would return. She added that TT$27 million would be spent to implement a special policing unit for the Central Business District in Port of Spain.
Vendors who have successfully re-registered will have to undergo an orientation with the Port of Spain City Corporation. McDowall-Thompson said the programme, which will run on three days (Friday-Sunday) for a duration of 18 months, will depend heavily on the patrol of police officers.
Compliance officers will also be stationed on Charlotte Street to ensure the vendors abide by the rules and regulations. She warned that any non-nationals found vending will be jailed and deported.
