KINGSTON Mayor Angela Brown Burke has warned that stiffer penalties could be coming for vendors who dump their garbage on the streets of the Jamaica capital.

The mayor said Tuesday that she was concerned that vendors and business operators were not exercising proper garbage disposal practices in the business hub.

"As a result of this, the drains in the city continue to be blocked despite efforts of the KSAC (Kingston & St Andrew Corporation) to clean them," Brown Burke told the Jamaica Observer.

As a first step, she said she would be arranging a meeting with vendors and business owners to discuss the issue and see if there was a need to improve garbage collection in the city. She added, however, that if the problem persisted after that meeting and any subsequent steps by the KSAC to remedy the situation, the corporation would be forced to come down harder on those who fail to follow the rules.

Vendors last week blocked sections of Spanish Town Road leading to Coronation Market after sewage began to overflow into the market area.

The mayor said KSAC officials subsequently visited the area and assessed the situation.

"Based on the assessment, officials from the KSAC found that part of the problem had to do with how vendors disposed of their garbage in the area," the mayor said.