POLICE yesterday cleared 10 tons of debris from the streets of downtown Kingston as they carried out the planned clean-up of the city, despite a protest by vendors and not having the blessing of the city council.

During the mid-morning protest, some of the unruly placard-bearing vendors, opposed to the removal of stalls from the city’s streets, pulled down shutters of some stores and hurled threats at the operators that if they could not sell, no one else could.

However, after a reassurance from the constabulary that they would maintain order in the city and a strong detachment of police officers in the business district, the nervous store owners decided to carry on with their operations.

“No higgler, no store!” one irate vendor shouted as he and others marched through the streets of downtown Kingston, creating chaos.

“It simple; if we can’t sell in town, none a dem store owner here can operate,” said another man, who claimed that the police operation to rid the street of vending stalls and creating a free flow for motorists had left hundreds of vendors without a source of income.

A curfew that was imposed in sections of the city at 1:00 yesterday morning to restrict movement in the business and market district during the operation will remain in effect until 1:00 am tomorrow.

“Thus far a number of streets have been cleared of debris and illegal vending material by the police, including the main thoroughfare of Heywood Street. These streets were cleared using police heavy duty transport equipment,” the constabulary said in a press release at mid-afternoon.

According to the police, an illegal firearm — a Bush Master rifle — was seized in the Bread Lane area of Hannah Town during the operation, and that personnel from the Jamaica Public Service, who were a part of the operation, identified and disconnected more than 330 illegal electricity connections.

Police said they had identified sections of downtown Kingston as hot spots and havens for criminal involved in extortion, drug peddling and robberies and that the move to clean up the city would allow for free movement of the law enforcement officers to carry out their crime-fighting duties.

In the meantime, a woman who operated close to the Coronation Market claimed she lost thousands of dollars worth of goods when police removed her stall with items of rice and saltfish.

Other vendors said their stalls were removed from designated vending areas.

“We have to pay we market fees for where we are now, so how them just come scrape we up so; we need justice,” said a fish vendor who refused to give her name.

“The police keep asking us to go into the markets but the area is in a deplorable state,” was the excuse given by one vendor for operating on the street.

“Look at the conditions in the market; worms and debris a pile up; there is no space,” said Daisy, another.

Police, in the meantime, vowed to continue the clean-up of the city despite the protest from vendors.

“This is not an operation to remove vendors from off the streets; it is an initiative aimed at cutting out extortion and criminal elements,” one senior police officer told the Observer yesterday.

Mayor of Kingston Desmond McKenzie has called a press conference for today to address the concerns of vendors, while the youth arm of the Opposition People’s National Party, which is opposed to the police operation, has also called a press conference to discuss the matter.

“The PNPYO is adamant that these one-stop band-aid measures cannot sufficiently solve major issues and as such we abhor the actions… and will speak out publicly,” the youth organisation said.

The position of the PNPYO is, however, contrary to that taken by PNP councillors of the Kingston and St Andrew Corporation (KSAC), who on Wednesday said that they supported any initiative aimed at restoring good order to the streets of the capital.

The caucus of PNP councillors also said that they believed the police heading the operation were “sufficiently” aware of the vending regulations and would know the designated vending areas in the city since they have been working with the KSAC over an extended period of time.