City vendors not sold on move

Some vendors along Fairchild Street, in The City, are pleading with Prime Minister Mia Mottley to come and speak with them, as they prepare to be moved to a nearby location that they say is not suitable.

Saying they were not willing to operate from the open lot adjacent to a sewage treatment plant, the vendors told Barbados TODAY they were worried that their already meagre earnings will disappear in a matter of days.

At a meeting last Sunday, the vendors were informed that they must vacate the area by the end of this month and utilise the nearby location as an alternative.

During the meeting, which was attended by several government representatives, the vendors were also given the opportunity to voice their concerns and share suggestions.

The vendors reported that the canteen and drinks operators have already been approved for one of the new kiosks in the Fairchild Street Vendors’ Market at the rear entrance of the Fairchild Street Bus Terminal and have been given the assurance the location would be ready in time.

Meanwhile, the fruit and vegetable vendors have been told they will be shifted to the nearby lot under a tent for several months, until additional kiosks are built. Sources suggest this could be until November.

However, some of those vendors who spoke with Barbados TODAY said the two weeks’ notice was too short and they did not believe the way it was being done was fair.

One woman who did not want to be identified said: “They say we have to take down these stalls and get rid of them. They said the new location [vendors’ market] is for food and drinks people only. It is not for us. It is not fair,” she said.

The lady who said she would not be going to the nearby temporary location a stone’s throw away, added that she believed authorities continued to “push we poor people all ‘bout” instead of providing the necessary help.

Patsy Joseph said she was not prepared to operate from the temporary location given the occasional stench that emanates from the sewage plant there.

“We have to move from here in two weeks’ time. We can’t go up there by that sewage plant because at times that [smells]. We will have to go home and do nothing. I don’t know what some of us will do,” she said.

She complained that sales were simply not the same as years ago because more people were now buying their produce from the supermarket, and she feared the situation will be worse when they are shifted.

One vendor, who has been operating from the area for the past 28 years, said she was not opposed to moving, but insisted that the proposed location was not ideal for the sale of food.

“If we are here and nothing much is going on here what you think will happen across there?” she said.

“I asked for a stall there [in the new vendors’ market] and they said it is not for me. Somebody who has been out here for the past 28 years and people who just come get a stall? This is not good. If they want to move us, where are we going to put our fruits and vegetables? There is nowhere there to put them. That is too much for us. That is too much. It is best we stay here,” she cried.

“I want to see the Prime Minister come out here to us. We put she inside there, so she need to do something for us. This is not good enough for us. It is not good enough,” she lamented.

Another vendor who operates a variety shop at the location told Barbados TODAY she did not feel comfortable going to the temporary location because she believed sales would be poor.

Stating that she had rent and loans to pay each month, the roadside vendor said while she knew the day was coming for them to move, she believe they should have been given more notice about the deadline.

However, President of the Barbados Association of Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN) Allister Alexander told Barbados TODAY the vendors knew the day for them to move was coming.

In fact, signalling his support for the pending relocation, Alexander said: “This is for betterment. It will not be a perfect situation. In times past they would have just been shift out of the way. . . without even any discussion.

“It will be for a period, and what I would want Government to do is to monitor them and see how they are doing there. But it is a necessary thing. What else are they going to do, go home?” said Alexander.

“I would not tell you that they will not be affected. Any shift in business from where you were will affect you, but it is not far from where they are now . . . Those who have structures, they will be given assistance to move them,” he said.

Some vendors had suggested that they be temporarily located to Independence Square.

But Alexander said he did not believe that location would have been ideal. (marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb)