SHELDON WILLIAMS, Staff Reporter

Members of the public especially peddlers and vendors are being warned to be on the look out for criminals pretending to be employees of the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA) who have confiscated items from higglers and to date neither them nor the goods have been seen since.

THE WEEKEND STAR understands that the group being sought includes two males and two females who at first glance appear to be legitimate employees of the NSWMA as they disguise themselves in similar uniforms, and are also reported to have a vehicle labelled with the company's logo at their disposal.

"I'm worried that there are persons out there passing themselves off as NSWMA workers and giving us a bad name," Colonel Allan Douglas, acting executive director of the NSWMA, communicated to THE WEEKEND STAR.

In a reported incident about the group's trickery, it is understood that members of the team accosted a chocolate vendor Nickiesha, and confiscated her sale items on Monday inside Emancipation Park.

According to Nickiesha, she handed over her products to the team as she was convinced that they were the 'real thing'.

"When I reached the bus stop, about four of them held on to my hand and my bag and asked me if I didn't know that there is to be no vending in the park, and they took me and showed me the sign. Beyond a doubt, I thought it was really them," the bemused woman explained.

Nickiesha said she handed over her chocolate bars valued at $5000, to the team after she was apprehended and asked them where would she have to go to collect the confiscated items.

Their answer sparked her suspicion as she was told that her items would not be returned to her because the total value fell below the threshold for returning goods.

She pleaded with them repeatedlyto give her a second chance and allow her to keep the items but to no avail as they later placed them in a van and departed leaving her dumbfounded.

Nickiesha became even more worried after they left suddenly. "Mi tun idiot, a cry me a cry after them tek mi goods, everything happened so fast," she recalled.

Her worrisome demeanour worsened after she visited the New Kingston Police Post for assistance and was advised by cops on duty that they had no knowledge of a NSWMA team being on duty in the area.

Nickiesha made checks with the Kingston and St.Andrew Corporation (KSAC) and visited the head office of the NSWMA but her goods have yet to be located leaving her distraught and jobless.

Interestingly, when THE WEEKEND STAR made checks with the NSWMA, we were informed that they were aware of the matter and found it strange as no team was assigned to the New Kingston area at the time of the reported incident.

Nonetheless, the management of the NSWMA has since launched a probe.

Harry Jackson, enforcement and compliance director at the NSWMA, said he was bewildered as to how such an incident could have happened. "We did not have any persons at Emancipation Park, I find it a bit strange," he explained.

He also pointed out that all their employees were placed in a lin- up to allow Nickiesha an opportunity to identify the persons who reportedly confiscated her items but none of them fit the description of the four being sought.

Jackson said several irregularities in regards to the conduct and dress code of legitimate NSWMA workers arose from Nickiesha's mishap.

"Usually their are no markings on the back of their uniforms and we don't have a vehicle that is usually stationed at the location. We do not have vehicles staying there, we only do drop off," he emphasised.

Meanwhile, Nickiesha is left wanting financial support as selling chocolate is her only source of income.

"Me pay rent out of it and tides out of it, everything me pay out of it. Me no know wha fi do cause a long time me a try, me is a trying woman. Even though it small what I sell, that's my job, that's what I do," Nickiesha explained in a broken voice.

She added that she has four children to support and the loss has made her livelihood difficult.

Nickiesha also uses proceeds from her sales towards her educational aspirations as she has paid for two CSEC subjects for herself to date and will sit the exams next year.

It is her eventual aim to become a teacher.

Anyone who is able to assist Nickiesha is being asked to contact her at 275-1963.