Thursday, September 2 2010

PORT-OF-SPAIN Mayor Louis Lee Sing is proposing a meeting between himself and roadside vendors be held September 13 to iron out certain differences. Lee Sing made his intentions clear at a flag raising ceremony on Monday at City Hall to mark the 42nd anniversary of the twinning of Port-of-Spain and St Catherine’s of Canada.

At the proposed meeting, the mayor said he would go into greater detail with his plan and vision for the city as it relates to several issues, including street vending.

“We want to give life to the city in a much more meaningful way. It is not a ‘we and them’ decision at all,” said Lee Sing.

He said the corporation would develop a holistic plan in which it would not be a question of moving vendors, but one of lifting the city to higher standards.

“We have to set about addressing all the varying divisions with a view to bringing resolutions to several vexing issues.” Lee Sing said his main aim as mayor is to develop Port-of-Spain into a city of which people would be proud. He said this would require the contribution of “all of us,” from Central Government, the corporation, and the people.

Former Mayor Murchison Brown said street vending was a problem all over the world, and the issue should be dealt with via controlled vending.

He said about two or three years ago, during his tenure, he stopped vending on the city’s streets.

“The vendors protested in front of the Mayor’s Office,” Brown recalled.