By NEWSDAY REPORTER Saturday, November 29 2008

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RECIPE FOR CHAOS: Taxis drop off and pick up passengers in the middle of Hart Street in Port-of-Spain while vendors' stalls were erected on both the n...

TENSION was evident at Hart Street in Port-of-Spain when Mayor Murchison Brown’s plan to have vendors moved to this street, previously used exclusively by St Ann’s and St James taxi drivers, took effect yesterday.

As the vendors who are registered with the Port-of-Spain Corporation began setting up shop in the designated areas on both the northern and southern end of the street, members of the St James and St Ann’s Taxi Drivers associations protested.

“Hazel Manning and Murchison Brown have killed us,” cried Roy Lawrence, president of both associations. “They moved ahead with their own plan despite discussions we had with them and now by putting vendors here, they have delivered a death blow by constricting the amount of drivers who have access to our stands,” he added.

Lawrence said the move went against an agreement made on Tuesday evening between the association and Brown. That agreement saw vendors on Hart Street so long as they were limited to only the first two lanes on the northern side and there was a 12 hour security presence to help maintain the peace.

“As it is right now, the vendors are occupying a lane and a half on both ends of the street, with us (the taxi drivers) sandwiched in the middle,” Lawrence said. “This is explicitly contrary to our previous arrangement. Instead they have forced our backs against the wall with this draconian proposal telling us now we have to give up more lanes than we agreed to or else we will be removed entirely,” he added.

Lawrence reiterated that the displacement of the drivers from Hart Street was unfair and he was extremely upset that the association was not included in any of the prior discussions in the local government ministry when it was decided that Hart Street would be converted into a vendor’s mall.

Brown said that he would not be holding himself responsible for any miscommunication between executives of the association and its members. He admitted that there was a meeting with the association on Tuesday and many ideas were discussed. However, he said, no formal agreement was reached.

“What he (Lawrence) is telling the press and his members is very different from what was actually discussed,” Brown said. “The most important thing from their perspective was that there would be no relocation. That was the plan. To that extent there were even discussions on how the two taxi stands could share the road and alternate the days, but the most important issue was that they remain on Hart Street and to this end, we were able to compromise,” Brown said.

Because of this, Brown said at the moment all he was interested in, was the people who paid to vend on Hart Street. He said the tents were already down and police patrols had already been assigned to the area and he expected both entities to coexist in the same area.

A fruit vendor told Newsday he had paid $2,000 to the City Corporation for the space he would occupy for the next five weeks at Hart Street. He also paid $100 registration.

He hoped to make enough sales over the Christmas season to recoup his expenditure and earn a profit.