KSAMC records show 10 approved vending areas, but councillors sceptical
THE director of operations for markets in the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) has been sent back to the drawing board to produce a list of the approved vending areas in the Corporate Area.
Last week Thursday, the corporation’s Finance Committee rejected the submission prepared by the director of operations, Jodian Getfield, which listed only 10 approved vending areas, all of which are in downtown Kingston.
Getfield prepared the list following a directive from the Finance Committee to the chief executive officer and commercial services manager. However, after several councillors expressed scepticism about the list, committee Chairman Vernon McLeod said it would not be accepted as the final list.
He said that for the list of approved vending areas to be accepted by the committee, proper research would have to be done.
One councillor, Eugene Kelly (People’s National Party, Whitfield Town Division), charged that one of the main problems at the KSAMC is the lack of proper record-keeping.
“Leases can’t be found, there is no list of all of the properties the KSAMC owns,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Councillor Tosha Schwapp (Stony Hill Division) pointed out that thorough research would be necessary to establish the corporation’s authority for collection of fees in other vending areas in the Corporate Area.
Gary Robotham, commercial services manager at KSAMC, argued that the 10 vending areas on the list were approved by resolutions passed by the council in 1999.
“No other areas have been approved by this council,” he said.
Questioned by Councillor Andrew Swaby (PNP, Vineyard Town Division) as to whether he could recall any other resolutions being passed to approve vending areas elsewhere in the Corporate Area, Robotham said he could not.
“What then is the basis of the authority for the KSAMC to collect vending fees from vendors in Half-Way-Tree?” Swaby asked.
Another councillor, Neville Wright (PNP, Trench Town Division), pointed out that for more than 15 years he has observed signs designating vending areas on Red Hills Road.
“All decisions taken at the KSAMC that are to be binding should be listed in one big book. It would make research easier,” he said.
Noting that councillors had mentioned several areas outside of downtown Kingston, such as Half-Way-Tree, Mannings Hill Road, Papine, where vending fees are being collected by the KSAMC, McLeod said that the list presented to the committee “does not reflect all of the areas where vending fees are collected”.