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Vendors in Dangriga Town who have been negatively affected by the Town Council's decision to declare an area on privately-owned land as a "No Vending Zone", say they will challenge the Mayor and Council's in Court.

The vendors, mostly hard working mothers, are furious after the UDP-elected Council prohibited their use of an area on North Stann Creek Riverside Street for vending of fruits, vegetables and other small items. They have been doing business there for over four years, and the current Mayor and Town Council even collected peddler's fees from them.

The vendors said that Mayor Francis Humphreys suddenly turned on them, informing them that he doesn't want them to sell in the area anymore, so they were forced to leave. Humphreys met with the vendors and promised that he would build stalls for them elsewhere if they agreed to move. The vendors accepted, but say that the Mayor hasn't kept his promise.

They argue that their use of the land is legal, because they have the permission of the private owner with whom they have a business arrangement. That private owner pays trade license to the council for his business.

It won't be the first time they have had to defend their use of the land in Court, and if judged by their insistence, it will not be the last. Some of the vendors have hired an attorney and will appear in Court on January 28th to argue their case.

The Belize Times