Mayor Pleased With Level of Compliance by Handcart Operators

Mayor of Kingston, Senator Councillor Angela Brown Burke, says she is pleased with the level of compliance among handcart operators, registering with the Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC).

Following an extension to November 8, which was granted to some handcart owners and operators who were unable to meet the KSAC’s deadline for registration, a total of 500 handcarts have now been registered, up from 426 at the end of the initial process.

Each handcart operator has to pay a registration fee of $3,000 per year to operate in the Corporate Area.

Addressing the monthly KSAC Council meeting at its Church Street chambers, in downtown Kingston on November 12, Mayor Brown Burke thanked the handcart operators, media, police, the Vendors’ Association and the customers who have endorsed the Corporation’s efforts to have handcart operations regularised.

“I want to thank them for doing that, because what that meant was that on Monday morning (November 11), there were many more handcart (operators) who came because they were losing out on business. That’s the kind of joined-up approach we need if we are to succeed as a people,” she said.

She thanked customers who, over the weekend, insisted that they would not use handcarts that were not registered.

Pointing to the benefits of the regularisation and registration of handcarts, Mayor Brown Burke said it supports public order, as it allows individuals to easily identify handcart operators in the event of any mishaps.

“If you put your goods on a handcart and the person disappears with it, you have a registration number. If they damage your vehicle, if they run over your foot, whatever it is, we have a means of identifying that handcart operator,” she noted.

She further pointed out that it also allows for a separation of legal operators from those who are operating illegally, and assured that as long as handcart owners and operators are not breaking any laws, they need not worry about the police seizing their carts.

The decision to register handcarts followed months of discussion among the KSAC, police and handcart owners and operators.

This move became necessary due to the challenges that were being faced in the market district stemming from the rapid growth of the hundreds of handcarts operating in the area and negatively impacting pedestrian and vehicular traffic, often without regard for the safety of pedestrians, and against many traffic regulations.