KINGSTON, Jamaica (JIS) – Some 226 vendors have been registered under the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) Vendor Registration Programme.

Mayor of Kingston, Senator Councillor Dr Angela Brown Burke, made the disclosure at the KSAC’s monthly council meeting, held on Tuesday at the KSAC offices, downtown Kingston.

The aim of the vendor registration programme is to ensure that all vendors operating within legal areas are registered to operate legally. The initiative will target persons engaged in vending activities within the formal markets and designated vending areas in Kingston and St Andrew.

“We began with 13 persons on July 23. So far we have been focusing on Pearnel Charles Arcade, Coronation Market, Oxford Mall Arcade, Darling Street transportation centre and the Queen’s market,” Dr Brown Burke said.

She noted that the Council is not satisfied with the progress being made so far in the programme. “In fact, later this week we will take a look to see what changes can be made to different elements of the programme as we have it. Notwithstanding this analysis,  I want to remind vendors that in the same way you need a driver’s licence to drive on the nation’s streets, vendors will require registration to sell,” Dr Brown Burke emphasised.

She added that any vendor not registered to be in the targeted markets and arcades by August 31, 2015 will be an illegal vendor and “enforcement team will be directed to act.”

“We will begin shortly discussions with the police to assists with this enforcement,” she further stated, while thanking those who have recognised the importance of registration.

Meanwhile, Dr Brown Burke noted that the Council was also trying to clear up any discrepancies within the programme.

We have been finding a bit of irregularity…. (for example) I probably be the person who has this stall, but I might be off for a little while and so my daughter or my friend is the one who is registered or sitting in.  So what we are trying to do is the collation, because some individuals who are registered are not the ones who own the stalls so it means that the counting is a little difficult, so we are working through those things,” she stated.

The vending fee for stalls in markets and arcades are $3,000 annually; $5,000 for off-street annex and $6,000 for approved on-street areas.

Vendors can register at the following locations: Coronation Markets and Annexes; Oxford Mall Arcade and Annexes; Redemption Arcade and Annexes; Constant Spring Arcade; Darling Street Transport Centre; Pearnel Charles Arcade; Pechon Street Transport Centre; Queens Market and Annexes; Cross Roads Market and Annex; 65 Mall Arcade; Papine Market; Half-Way Tree; Constant Spring Market; New Coal Yard Market; Red Rose Fish Market; and Stony Hill Market.