"The Have's and the Have not's"

Photo taken by Brendon Taylor on Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad.

 

To some individuals, the above photo may simply communicate that there are vendors on the street aiming to sell their respective products and merchandise. Our perspective goes much further.We could not help but notice the contrast between the vendors on the street and the retailers directly behind occupying the storefront. In our opinion, it portrays the common juxtaposition in society between those who have better means and opportunities and those who are less fortunate in comparison.On a larger scale, our minds were stimulated to c ompare the dichotomy represented in the photo to the Global "rich" North versus the Global "poor" South. Since Odeh (2010) states that the Global North is represented by the economically developed while the Global South is represented by the economically backwards, we concluded that the retailers would comprise the North while the vendors comprise the South. 

 

But what are the differences between the vendor on the street and the storeowner? The main difference has to be the financial capability to either rent or own a store in order to conduct business. Otherwise, both have a focus on providing a product or service and may be recognized as entrepreneurs. However, the vendor encounters added pressures. These pressures include restrictions on what can be sold, possible replacement by the implementation of vending machines and issues surrounding licensing. 

 

Vending in Port-of-Spain has been a topic of much debate over the last 10 years. According to Sheppard (2008) of the Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, Mayor Murchison Brown imposed a ban on street vending in the city in 2008. More recently in 2014, Tim Kee stated that vending was only legal to licensed vendors on Charlotte Street and all other vendors would be removed.(Clyne, 2014) The undeniably valid reasons against vending in the city included the risk of injury to shoppers by walking on the streets in close proximity to moving vehicles, traffic congestion,reduced areas for parking, blocked entrances to stores and the construction of unsightly contraptions. 

 

The intention of this blog is not to show bias towards vendors but there are certain realities that cannot be ignored. In the first instance, for the majority of individuals, vending is the major or sole source of income. In the second instance, there are problems with the availability of licenses for existing and potential vendors because of the limited area available for them to ply their trade. 

 

Therefore the "million dollar" question is, how do we strike the balance between sustaining livelihoods and maintaining order on the streets? In addition, we can derive so many more questions.Can we accommodate vendors without denying anyone the opportunity to earn an income? What are the implications of the denial on crime? It simply seems that these questions will continue to go unanswered unless proper planning and creative strategies are implemented to provide solutions. 

 

References: 

Odeh, Lemuel E. 2010. "A Comparative Analysis of Global North and Global South Economies." Journal of Sustainable Development in Africa 12 (3): 341-347. 

 

Clyne, Kalifa. 2014. "Crackdown on illegal vending." Trinidad and Tobago Guardian, April 2.

 

Sheppard, Suzanne. 2008. "Time to end illegal vending."Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, April 13.