Pickpocketing remains a concern for Port-of-Spain mayor Raymond Tim Kee. He was commenting on shopping in the city for the Christmas period. His comments come as acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams on Monday launched the Safe City Crime Initiative on the Brian Lara Promenade. Tim Kee, who was speaking to reporters yesterday after the launch of the renovated Standards store, Western Main Road, St James, said a partnership approach is needed to deal with the security problem in the city.
Tim Kee said he suggested to Williams that the initiative should be spread throughout the year and not only implemented for the Christmas period. “We have a pickpocket situation, which is crime, and everyone has to hold on to their jewelry. In fact they were advised to keep their jewelry home. “I find that is ridiculus. When you buy jewelry you buy it to wear. You have to now put your jewelry in a safety deposit box. That is not life, that is like a prison.”
Commenting on the trends in shopping, he said it appeared the high-end stores have left the city and opted for the malls to set up operations. The smaller stores have taken over. In other words, the taste patterns of some people have drifted to the malls versus shopping in the city. Tim Kee added: “There are no longer international type businesses and stores. I observed those (high end stores) have been moving to the malls. “When you do a comparative between the malls and downtown, in the malls you don’t have the risk of being robbed. You don’t run the risk of not getting parking. The incidents of stealing cars is substantially less. People who want to shop want to be more comfortable.”
Suggesting that the shift to the mall is probably due to street vending in the city, he said: “These vendors put up their operation outside the stores, follow customers inside the store see what the customer is going to purchase and offer that product at a lower price. “The customer will then leave the store and purchase the item by the vendor. “It is unfair to the business people who have recurrent expenses. When those stores do not have the complement of customers to keep their business going it means that they have to get rid of staff, they have to be less sophisticated in terms of the ambience for their business place.” Time Kee said the problem of vending in the streets continued to be a challenging one.