Why Ministry of Justice JA$50,000 Illegal Vendors fine unworkable as regularizing Vendors needed

“Illegal vending is contributing to the garbage clogging up gullies and making this place look unfit for people to walk around”

Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck while addressing the members of the St Ann Justices of the Peace Association in Ocho Rios on Friday September 16^th 2016

Illegal vendors, beware; life is going to get harder. JA$25,000 or JA$50,000 harder!

This as Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck had declared that they plan to increase fines for illegal vending as reported in the article “Fines For Illegal Vending Could Skyrocket”, published Saturday September 17, 2016 by Carl Gilchrist, The Jamaica Gleaner.

The reason according to Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck?

Illegal vendors are allegedly causing the gullies to be clogged with garbage, resulting in flooding in long Marcus Garvey Drive in Kingston and Montego Bay, St James due to rains in early September 2016 as reported in the article “Flood Waters Cause Chaos Along Marcus Garvey Drive”, Published Saturday September 10, 2016, The Jamaica Gleaner.

According to Minister of Justice while addressing the members of the St Ann Justices of the Peace Association in Ocho Rios on Friday September 16^th 2016, the JP (Justices of the Peace) would do the honours, quote: “With respect to illegal vending, it may well be in the purview of justices of the peace to impose penalties soon. We want to increase the penalties not to $2,000 maximum, but maybe somewhere (between) $25,000 or $50,000, so justices of the peace can impose a higher penalty where there is illegal vending”.

Not so fond of this argument, as it implies that legal vendors, if such a creature exists, aren't also having a problem disposing of their garbage.

Plus, I thought the real problem was the use of non-biodegradable plastics such as Styrofoam, which the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) is yet to ban as pointed out in my blog article entitled “How JA$100 for recycling 500ml Plastic bottles and Styrofoam Ban will save Jamaica's Environment”.

At least Wisynco has a conscience and plans to phase out the use of Styrofoam altogether as pointed out in my blog article entitled “Why Wisynco making coloured Biodegradable Styrofoam heralds Beeswax Cardboard Packaging”

The other big polluters in Jamaica are yet to be charged, yet the GOJ decided to go after illegal vendors, who do what they do to survive!

But will this targeting of illegal vendors work?

Targeting illegal vendor unworkable - Regularizing MSME's and sorting garbage the way to go

Targeting illegal vendors by increasing a fine to JA$50,000 sends a bad signal to most illegal vendors, who are really unlicensed MSME (Micro Small and Medium enterprises). A better idea would simply be to make them legal vendors and require that they pay taxes to the Government.

This would require that they produce transaction receipts and keep records or their sales, possibly involving them having bank accounts and Mobile Money to process transactions as pointed out in my blog article entitled “How Electronic Transactions in Jamaica can eliminate Hidden Economy via Universal Consumption Taxation”.

This would show the Jamaican people that the JLP (Jamaica Labour Party) believes in empowering people and encouraging Entrepreneurship as pointed out in my blog article entitled “How 9-y-o and Millennials in Jamaica are becoming CEO Entrepreneurs to avoid the Cubicle Rat Race”.

Plus, the so-called big man needs to also be brought to book and made to shoulder the burden of garbage collection and pollution, to quote the Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck: “The last two huge flooding in St James and Marcus Garvey Drive, it's all about garbage, and it's not just the little man; it's [also] the big man. Everybody [is] throwing garbage in the gullies, throwing their garbage on the streets, and creating that problem”.

Separating, sorting and masticating garbage for collection and an increase in the return value of plastic and Styrofoam to JA$100 per 500ml bottle or Styrofoam carton as argued in my blog article entitled “How JA$100 for recycling 500ml Plastic bottles and Styrofoam Ban will save Jamaica's Environment” in the best option, really!

This value would account not only the value of the plastic bottle but also the environmental impact as well as the cost for the NSWMA (National Solid Waste Management) to recover plastic bottles found in the wild.

The collected plastic can then be made into Plastic Lumber and used as construction material, effectively ending the life cycle of plastic by making into useful housing construction material as argued in my blog article entitled “How JA$100 for Plastic Bottles can be converted into Tru North Deck Plastic Lumber”. 

Increasing the fines for illegal vending from JA$1000 to JA$50000 in a bid to combat plastic and Styrofoam bottle pollution will not work. Tackling the problem by collecting Plastic before it reaches into the gullies is the way to go.