Vendors under KFC still defying orders

VendorS were still selling under the KFC gallery at Grenville and Melville Streets up to press time yesterday,one day after businessman Ken Boyea said he would have removed their attachments to his business place.{{more}}

Boyea, in an August 7 letter to the Warden of the Kingstown Town Board, gave city officials until Saturday, August 18 to move vendors from under the gallery.

He said that failure to do so would have resulted in any attachment or obstruction to the property being forcibly removed by St Clair Investments Ltd, the franchise holder of KFC.

Boyea, in his letter, said the vendors should move because they inhibit the free flow of customers who patronize the business, their stalls are unsightly, and that conditions there, at times, are unhygienic.

Searchlight visited the area several times yesterday and the vendors indicated that it was business as usual, and they had not been approached by anyone representing the Kingstown Board or Boyea.

The vendors said that they are prepared to relocate if a suitable location is provided.

Until then, they intend to remain in their usual locations, where some have been plying their trade for years.

Searchlight was unsuccessful in its efforts to reach Kingstown Town Board warden Carl Williams, who was out of office yesterday.

Similar calls to St Clair Investments Ltd, in an effort to speak with Boyea or KFC management, did not yield any results.

Minister of Transport and Works Julian Francis and constituency representative for Central Kingstown, opposition lawmaker St Clair Leacock, have called for a national discussion on sidewalk vending on all the streets in Kingstown that are affected.