Fish markets’ managers and workers were busy all Thursday cleaning to ready them for business next week.
Eric Lewis, Senior Manager of Fish Markets, oversaw clean-up operations at the Bridgetown Fish Market, as workers cleared away the volcanic ash which rained down over the weekend from several eruptions of the La Soufriere volcano in northern St. Vincent.
Lewis said: “This is an ongoing exercise, but we are hoping if everything goes well, that we can open at least early next week. This week we spent a lot of time assisting the fisherfolk in terms of giving them ice, offloading fish boats, storing the fish in freezers, and trying to make everyone as comfortable as possible, given the circumstances.
“This morning, we are cleaning the car park, we are going to remove as much of the ash as possible, then later this evening we are going to wash it down with some seawater. The stalls have been cleaned already, and the processing halls have already been cleaned here at Bridgetown.”
Sharon Bellamy Thompson, a fish vendor at the Bridgetown complex, said that the market’s management has so far been extremely supportive, as the blue economy workers seek a timely restart to their livelihoods in a matter of days.
“As early as 8 o’ clock, the management of the market are doing a fantastic job; they were here on hand every day, early as possible, to make sure that the market has been cleaned,” she said. “The vendors really chipped in and came to make sure we can have this market open back because it has been a great loss to many of us.
“We had our fish by the thousands stored … and suddenly the volcano came and it has been a rough time, from COVID now to volcano ash. It is really hurtful because a lot of us have kids and grandkids and stuff like that, you don’t know where the next dollar [will] come from.” (SB)
