‘No tarpaulins, no handcarts’
MoBay mayor says new vending restrictions coming
Published:Friday | August 1, 2025 | 9:33 AMChristopher Thomas/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Montego Bay Mayor Richard Vernon says that, once the ongoing upgrades to the downtown area of the western city are complete, handcart and food vendors will not be allowed to operate outside of designated zones.
Speaking at the unveiling of new waste-separation bins and the opening of a pedestrian walkway in Sam Sharpe Square on Thursday, Vernon emphasised that vending will be strictly regulated under the city’s revitalisation efforts.
The four paired waste-separation bins were installed under the National Solid Waste Management Authority’s islandwide project, while the walkway forms part of the St James Municipal Corporation’s (StJMC) STEP-UP (Striving Towards Environmental Protection and Urban Preservation) programme.
“In terms of vending, the signs for vending have been erected but they will say ‘No unpermitted vending’, and there must be absolutely no handcarts,” said Vernon. “My policy, which I have communicated to the council (StJMC), is that handcarts belong in the market district, and that is where they will be, but we are not ones to rush people into a space without providing the necessary amenities. So we are putting amenities in place, and then we will gradually encourage persons, in a nice way, to get into these spaces.”
Food zones
Under the StJMC’s Safe Food Programme, designated zones for food vending are also being established.
“When you walk in certain lanes, you will only have access to trinkets and apparels, and when you go to the arcade that we want to build up, you will get storefront operations, where vendors have their little shops and they can do their business in a more dignified way,” continued Vernon. “There will be organised vending – no tarpaulins, no handcarts – and let me make that very clear.”
The Safe Food Programme, launched in December 2023, aims to register food vendors to operate in approved zones. A related initiative began in 2022 after it was revealed that only 30 of 600 food vendors in St James held valid food handler’s permits.
Plans are under way to reserve Fort Street and the lower section of Lawrence Lane for food vendors such as soup and jerk chicken sellers. These vendors will be trained by the HEART/NSTA Trust, equipped with standardised carts, and provided with facilities, including bathrooms.
Vernon also called on Montego Bay’s business community to support the downtown improvement drive by renovating their buildings to complement the upgrades being made under the STEP-UP initiative.
“We are going to do the other roadways – to include sections of lower Corner Lane, Long Lane, lower Lawrence Lane, and the entire St James Street. We are going to improve all of those areas, and they are going to look just like this work that has been done at Sam Sharpe Square, along Market Street,” said Vernon.
“This is the time when we ask our corporate citizens to come on board, to improve the buildings and do some ‘facelifting’ to ensure that what they present out at the front falls into what we are trying to achieve as a government, which is that improved infrastructure, that improved beauty of our space,” said Vernon. “We must ensure that we have that partnership going so we can have a better and more beautiful Montego Bay.”