THERE WILL BE no more vending on the Bridge Street, The City, sidewalk from Monday.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Morgan Greaves, announced the crack-down yesterday.

He confirmed receiving a notice from manager of markets, Henderson Greaves, to the effect that permits for selling on the sidewalk had been revoked.

From Monday morning, there will be no more vending along that sidewalk, Greaves told the SATURDAY SUN.

Insisting that the walkway used by the vendors was part of its assets and that their actions were causing financial losses, the company that owns Trimart Supermarket properties had told the half-dozen licensed sellers and others to pack up after Thursday.

Yesterday, the vendors shifted their trays and boxes to the other side of the walkway, beyond a one-foot wide red line which they claimed separated private property from public. But that was a futile gesture.

Officials of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN) told the SATURDAY SUN that vendors had been short-changed by the authorities.They said Government, which had been responsible in the first place for issuing the permits to sell in the area, was pushing the vendors off the street without making decent preparations for their transfer.

"We do not believe that Government should allow big business to dictate their policy," president of the association, Alister Alexander, said.

It was unclear yesterday where the vendors would be relocated, with Fairchild Street and Nursery Drive said to be listed as the alternative locations.

Meantime, NSR Limited, the company that owns the Trimart supermarket properties, has welcomed the action taken against the vendors.

One of the directors, Everick Eastmond, said: "I understand the plight of the vendors, but their plight can't be our problem – Government has to take care of that." (TY)