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Recently police have been shutting them down at midnight - as a measure to control people moving about at dangerous hours. But, the commissioner says they may need to do a re-think. Williams says there must be some compromise made to ensure that these vendors do not suffer.

Chester Williams, Commissioner of Police
"The vendor issue is something being done by the Officer Commanding in Belize City. I try as much as I can not to interfere in whatever policing strategy that they might have. But I could understand the cries and concerns of the vendors. We know for a fact that this is how majority of them do make a livelihood not only for themselves, but also for their families. So there must be something that we can do to be able to mitigate the situation. Yes, I have spoken to Mr. Dawson and he has given me his rationale behind it and I can understand where he is coming from as well. But at the end of the day, we must ensure that whatever we do, it is not done in such a way that it takes away from people what they have as their means of subsistence. So I have already said to him that it is something that we need to revisit. I would want us to meet with the vendors as well as the mayor of the city to see how we can regularize this issue. Whatever the outcome needs to be, it must be one that will be satisfactory to all the parties, meaning the police, the vendors as well as the City Council. And so we are hoping that we can have a meeting hopefully next week to sit down and discuss this issue. But in the interim, until we could have that meeting, my directive is that the vendors should be allowed to go on at least until 2:30, because you know that the nighclubs do close at 2 and people when they leave the nightclubs, they eant to be able to want something to eat when they come out. So if you can have the vendors there for at least to 2:30, it will help them as well so that they will be able to sell off the food that they would take out for that night in question. We will see how we proceed with this issue, but I want that whatever the decision is that these ladies who are out there selling their food will not be deprive of their means of subsistence."

A late evening release from the Commissioner says, quote, "The Commissioner of Police...has discussed the matter...with the Minister of National Security, and are of the view that it amounts to a deprivation of the venders right to work. It was also agreed that this practice must cease and desist with forthwith.

Whilst the police efforts in trying to minimize the amount of people on the streets during late night hours can be understood, this cannot override the right of the Street Venders to an honest means of living. The Police will therefore work with the venders with a view to make the area within which they work safer for all.