It has been argued that the informal economy in Jamaica may well control the biggest chunk of the country’s economy and may even be in the region of 60 per cent. Part of that hard-to-research-and- control sector comprises higglers, most of whom are street vendors.

Especially during the holiday seasons, more so at Christmas, these seemingly enterprising Jamaicans oftentimes clash with the authorities, primarily the police and the municipal corporations, because of their disruptive, undisciplined, and anarchic behaviour.

In this regard, the perennial question has been, should they be subject to strict control by the State or should they be allowed to carry on regardless? Are we to see them as just a necessary evil and an integral part of the nation’s socio-economic fabric that should be tolerated and not expunged?

Even as Jamaica enters into its 60th year of having achieved political Independence, it is my view that this issue should be part and parcel of any national debate dealing with people empowerment and the quest towards economic independence, which continues to elude us. Let’s face it, many people who resort to street vending or higglering do so as a last resort or see it as a viable option towards attaining some level of being able to exist above the poverty line.

When I was a boy, my father worked in the cane fields of Barnett Estates in Montego Bay as a foreman. While they were provided with a house on the property, my mother and he yearned to have their own land and private residence, a dream which could not be realised by simply relying on his meagre salary. So, as the saying goes, my mother “tun har hand mek fashion”, and embarked on a moneymaking venture, which involved making Johnny cakes (small flour or cornmeal dumplings) accompanied by fried salted fish – even today I can smell the enticing aroma – and selling them to the workers in the sugar cane fields.

And so, in good time, they were able to buy a piece of land elsewhere and build what was regarded in those days as a “nice house with room and hall”, as well as a detached kitchen and pantry, all made possible from the proceeds of her culinary skills.

There have been countless stories of economic empowerment and prosperity achieved by the vendors and higglers of this country. Many professionals, as well as those who acquired academic success right up to university level, owe their achievement to, in most cases, a mother, grandmother, stepmother, or aunt who financed their education by selling on the streets or in the market. To put it bluntly, vendors and higglers have been the backbone of this country, but so many of us, including politicians who only warm towards them at election time, see them as lesser mortals.

Who can recall the turbulent ’70s when the Jamaican economy was in a tailspin and there was acute food shortage? It was the innovative, ambitious, and visionary higglers who travelled to Panama, Haiti, Cayman Islands, Miami, and Curacao to purchase goods, which they brought back and flooded the Jamaican market; in many instances they made a ‘killing’. Indeed, there have been stories about some higglers moving from their downtown slum to Beverly Hills.

Winnifred R Brown-Glaude in her essay ‘Spreading Like a Dis/ease?: Afro-Jamaican Higglers and the Dynamics of Race/Color, Class and Gender’ argues that, “Most cities in developing and developed countries contain dual and interrelated economies – formal and informal. Socially formed meanings of markets and market activities in each of these economies vary, often privileging formal markets as more ‘legitimate’ over informal markets…Higglering is a Jamaican term that denotes the informal economic activity of small-scale street vending dating back to the days of slavery, and is dominated by black, lower-class Jamaican women. Higglering is generally perceived as a low-status, illegitimate, or illegal occupation among many Jamaicans, and higglers have been constructed as deviants in the public imagination. Richard Burton (1997) argues, for instance, that the higgler is ‘regarded with ambivalence by the wider society. Admired for her ‘manlike’ autonomy and assertiveness, she is also derided on account of her often-invasive physical presence, her loud dress, and her even louder demeanour and language’. Lisa Douglas (1992) adds that the higgler is perceived as a comical character, a caricature of a woman in Jamaican society,” as we have seen oftentimes portrayed in plays and televised dramatic pieces.

As long as there are not enough well-paying jobs or security of tenure, many working class Jamaicans or those at the very lowest level of the society will resort to street vending as a way of survival. Whenever a worker gets laid off or is terminated, he or she uses that money to “hustle”, which, most times, involves buying a motor vehicle to “run robot” or a licensed taxi/minibus, which explains why there are so many taxis and minibuses on our roads, making it almost impossible and unviable for Government to sufficiently invest in an effective public transportation system.

The sad truth is that successive governments have failed to deal effectively with the street vending crisis, so the cat-and-mouse game continues even while aggrieved vendors “bawl out” against discrimination, brutality, and ill-treatment. To put it bluntly, these are black Jamaicans whose plight has been taken for granted for too long, and it is time that a national policy framework be developed to deal with this burning issue.

Local Government and Rural Development Minister Desmond McKenzie owes it to the class and race from which he comes to tackle this vexing problem once and for all in a meaningful and sustainable way. After all, vendors/higglers are people too. To continue to ignore this monster that persistently rears its perceived ugly head is to ultimately court disaster because, based on the current trajectory, more and more people are likely to turn to vending.

Government must govern with compassion infused with emotional intelligence, not brute force and unconscionable leadership.

Lloyd B Smith has been involved full-time in Jamaican media for the past 45 years. He has also served as a Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives. He hails from western Jamaica where he is popularly known as the Governor. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or lbsmith4@gmail.com.