MoBay vendor caught urinating in viral video won’t be allowed to sell, says health department

The St James Health Department says that a food vendor who was caught in a recent viral video urinating in a bottle while peddling her wares near the Charles Gordon Market in Montego Bay, will not be permitted to continue her trade.

Addressing a press conference this afternoon at the St James Municipal Corporation, St James’ medical officer of health Francine Phillips-Kelly said that the vendor, who remains unidentified, was selling ground provisions, oranges and pears at the time of the reported incident.

“This vendor will not be able to continue as is, because based on investigations, she would have breached our food handling regulations in several areas. She will not be allowed to continue, and action will be taken…because of the breaches we have found, she is liable for prosecution,” said Phillips-Kelly.

The health department had a meeting with the offending vendor on Monday, prior to today’s press conference. It is understood that the vendor’s food handler’s permit, which was last renewed in 2021, had expired.

There was public outrage when the video in which the woman was seen committing the unsanitary act while sitting in a vehicle along the roadway went viral, with comparisons being made to the actions of Crab Circle vendor Alice Waugh last October.

Waugh came to national attention after a viral video surfaced in which she was seen relieving herself at her stall. She pleaded guilty to breaching the Public Health Act and was fined $250,000 when she appeared in the St Andrew Parish Court in July this year.

In the meantime, Montego Bay’s Mayor Richard Vernon told journalists that greater focus will be placed on ensuring that food vendors in the western city comply with health regulations.

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