Mayor of St. George?s E. Michael Jones said he expects a backlash from some carriage operators in the old town for the introduction of a new permit and fee to ply their trade.

And Mr. Jones hinted at the Corporation being fed up with horse droppings, especially on its cobble stone streets and might consider diapers like the Corporation of Hamilton.

All five horse and carriage operators in St. George?s paid for their permits. ?I?m sure they are not happy about paying. Everybody wants to do what they want to do,? Mayor Jones said. ?The Corporation provides a space for the drivers to be so they can pick up fares.?

?The fee attached is like any other permit,? he said. ?The Corporation did not think it was an inordinate amount of money.?

The permit would not drive carriage operators away from the east end, he said but on the contrary, he thought the new permit might attract more carriage operators to the area.

The permit includes rides from Penno?s Wharf, where one of the five carriage operator is located. He thought the price of the permit was fair compared to the price of the proposed horse shelter on Ordnance island. ?It will cost tens of thousands of dollars to put up a shade for the horses,? he said.

However, despite recent calls from the SPCA to build a shade on Ordnance island, the Mayor confessed that the Corporation of St. George?s might have to ?relook at the whole project? in relation to shelter?s location.

The Corporation of St. George?s has to pay for the horse-shelter, he said. However, a $100 ?administrative fee? was not going to go far towards the shelter construction.

?When horse debris falls on the street it is up to the Corporation to collect it,? he said.

The Mayor explained that the cost of the permit will go towards ?a few man hours? which will ensure that the system is being adhered to.