MONTEGO BAY, St James – The St James Public health Department will next month move to recertify street food vendors who received training and permits last year. New applicants will also be processed during the initiative that will likely be closely watched because of the recent closure of Crab Circle in Kingston after a video surfaced of a vendor relieving herself at her stall.

“Last year some 35 vendors were trained in November. The permits expire next month and we are in the process of preparing to have those persons recertified and new persons trained,” chief public health inspector for theparish, Sherika Lewis told the Jamaica Observer on Wednesday.

The training, she explained, will cover topics such as sanitation and waste disposal among other critical steps that must be taken as vendors provide food to members of the public.

“We would have to incorporate sanitation in terms of the use of the toilet facilities and the importance of that for the food handlers. It’s in the training but we have to emphasise that. Also for public sanitary conveniences, we have been monitoring the ones that are in parish and we want the vendors to know where they are and that they can be used. So that too will be a part of our messaging,” she said when asked if any adjustments would be made to the programme because of what happened at Crab Circle.

Lewis pointed out that while her team has no record of any breach like the recent one in Kingston, there are issues with street vending in St James that need to be addressed.

“No faucets to wash hands, no food handler’s permits, poor disposal of garbage and no bathroom facilities access – especially for the late-night vendors,” she told Observer West.

The health official said new participants in the training programme being offered by her team should be provided with hand washing stations, based on availability.

“Last year we handed out retrofitted buckets, hand wash stations. All the 35 that turned out at that time got buckets and we are trying to do the same for the new ones that come this time around as well,” she said.

The health department will work in tandem with the St James Municipal Corporation which will launch its Safe Foods programme on Thursday. The goal is to ensure that vendors follow the rules as they conduct business.

“It will target everyone, whether they are open air or inside a building that sells food and it will be a complete rearrangement of how things are done,” deputy mayor and Councillor Richard Vernon told Observer West on Wednesday.

Wary of disclosing details ahead of the launch, he did say they are keen to get everyone involved. He said there are about 300 street vendors from Barnett Street to Fort Street in Montego Bay, and about another 700 who ply their wares in the city’s Charles Gordon Market.

“We are trying to manage the night experience as much as the day,” Vernon said.

It is expected that there will be a certification component along with training and designated spaces for vending.