COUNCILLORS of the Interim Management Council (IMC) of the Anna Regina Township met, on Tuesday, with dozens of vendors who are selling produce illegally on the road leading to the Anna Regina Market to discuss problems of selling illegally on the road shoulder. Chairman of the Market Committee, Mr. Sammy Rampersaud, who chaired the meeting, told vendors that it is illegal for persons to vend on the roadside, and called on them to cooperate with the IMC and remove from the roadside into the market. The former Mayor of Anna Regina town said the issue of illegal vending on the market road is a very serious issue and is presently engaging the attention of the IMC.

Town Clerk Ms. Diana Critchlow said the meeting was arranged with vendors and councillors of the Market Committee to sort out the problem of illegal vending. She said the matter is a sore issue and has engaged the IMC for a number of years. According to the Town Clerk, the IMC, which was installed by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development late last year, has taken a serious stand on roadside vending, and is moving swiftly to have the shoulders of the market road cleared.

Speaking on behalf of the roadside vendors, Mr. Maxwell Bridgemohan called for vendors to vend in peace, and for the old market to be renovated in order to accommodate more vendors. In fact, he called for the market to be constructed into a modern two-storey complex, pointing out that some vendors in the market have more than one stall or table, and it would be difficult to accommodate all the roadside vendors.

Another vendor, Mr. Rambarran, called for the market road to have one-way traffic every day, in order to accommodate peaceful, unimpeded vending.

Former Region 2 Vice Chairman, Ms. Mary Williams, who represented the Mainstay/Whyaka pineapple farmers, opined that it is only when the pineapple crop starts that the IMC sees it fit to remove vendors from the roadside. She said pineapple is a very perishable crop, and must be sold quickly, and the roadside vending is ideal for selling pineapples.

However, after listening to the vendors, Chairman of the Market Committee, Mr. Rampersaud, said it is illegal for vending to be done on the roadside, and repeated that, as a very serious issue, the IMC was not prepared to tolerate vending on the roadside.