Municipal police and vendors vow to work together

The Clarendon Municipal Corporation has pledged more social intervention to improve the relationship between vendors and the municipal police.

This following viral videos showing altercations following an attempt by the municipal police to seize a vendor's goods. Another video also shows an altercation between the police and a taxi operator over alleged illegal parking. Rowhan Blake, CEO of the corporation, said the entity has been facilitating training of officers, especially in the area of customer service as part of their efforts to make May Pen into a town where "we all can coexist. " He assured that the corporation will be ramping up training to deter such altercations.

During a meeting with vendors on Thursday, Blake said "You are our customers, but apart from that, you are citizens of the parish and users of the town, so we care about you and we want to ensure that we can co-exist in the space." Blake also condemned the actions of both parties in the videos.

Citing communication as key, Lorraine Green-Mason, president of the May Pen Vendors Association said she was pleased with the efforts made by the corporation to facilitate meeting with the vendors. Payter-Ann Morgan-Lowe, vice-president of the association, said the officers can find alternative ways of handling testy situations.

"For example, they come seize your goods, it's not what they do is how they do it. They're disrespectful, they're being abusive and main thing is, them behaving like them want to [hit] you. They're unprofessional and that is what's causing most of the problem," Morgan-Lowe said.

Winston Maragh, mayor of May Pen, said that payment plans are being drafted to accommodate vendors who may not be able to pay their vending fees in a lump sum for the Christmas season. He has also implored that the COVID-19 protocols be followed during the Yuletide season.