Upgraded vendors’ facilities in the works for St Peter

Vendors who ply their trade in two St Peter communities are in line for upgraded working conditions.

This was revealed by Member of Parliament for the area Colin Jordan, who said improvements were coming to Speightstown and Six Men’s.

He contended that it was critical that Government provided opportunities for persons who “did not inherit anything”.

“We have in Speightstown, a vending area by the traffic lights at the junction of the KNR Husbands Highway and Church Street, a vending area that is in need of attention, and we’ve had discussions with the Ministry of Agriculture, which is the ministry responsible for that vending area, and they have provided us with plans that will lend to the modernising of the area,” Jordan said on Tuesday during debate in Parliament on a Resolution to vest 18, 909 square meters of land in Worthing, Christ Church to the National Housing Corporation (NHC).

“Those things are important because the vendor in Speightstown by the bus stand must feel that his or her economic activity is on par with Unicomer in Bridgetown, The Sands in Worthing, Cave Shepherd, wherever it is. The vendor in St Peter must understand that their choice of economic activity has the same level of validity.”

Jordan said with the assistance of the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc, vendors at Six Men’s would also have a vastly improved work space.

He said the groundwork for that had already begun.

“We are in the process of now working with the Barbados Tourism Investment Inc to transform that vending area, again because Government has a role and a responsibility beyond that role to help those who need the assistance,” the parliamentary representative for St Peter said.

“And so, the ladies and the gentlemen who operate from Six Men’s in some things that look like shacks that were transported there because somebody else somewhere in the country didn’t want them anymore, we have to go past that. There will be vigorous debate to make sure that that work which was started under the former Minister of Economic Affairs … continues. We’ve received an artist’s impression of what a redeveloped area will look like and we look forward to developing the area so that the vendors in that area can feel proud about the facilities that have been provided for them,” Jordan added. (RB)