Just days away from the highly anticipated T20 Cricket World Cup, shop owners at the Temple Yard Craft Market are expressing growing concerns over the current state of their surroundings, labelling it an eyesore.
Despite promises of redevelopment and temporary relocation from the government, the reality on the ground paints a different picture.
Just under two months ago, the members of the Rastafarian committee who occupy the space were beaming with anticipation, declaring their compliance with the government’s directives concerning the revitalisation efforts.
When Barbados TODAY visited the area on Friday, the bright smiles were reduced to weary frowns of dissatisfaction. Among their discomfort is a lack of sanitation.
“We are having a problem with the removal of the debris from Temple Yard,” lamented Carl Taylor, Public Relations Officer for Forward, the group representing the craft market.
“The place is more than an eyesore. It is a health epidemic. It’s very unhygienic having the debris lying around, rats and vermin will breed. So we are asking for some urgency to please put us at ease with the sanitary conditions at Temple Yard.”
Pieces of wood from the dismantled shops were strewn around the area while stagnant water settled in the crevices of empty spaces breeding mosquitoes, which bore testament to the spokesman’s concern.
Echoing Taylor’s sentiments, Sherryann Knight, the president of the Forward group, expressed frustration at the lack of communication and progress in the relocation process.
“We’re in limbo. We lost. We don’t know what’s our next move. We’re just here waiting,” she said.
The president, who is also among those who had hurriedly deconstructed her shop in anticipation of the renovations, told Barbados TODAY that it has been hard since her act of compliance.
“We got families to attend to so we need an update specifically on when we’re going to be relocated so we can start to function normally again,” Knight said.
The shop owner said that based on information she received during the group’s last meeting with the government, there had apparently been some form of mix-up in the directions.
“During a meeting a few weeks ago, it was stated that we had some kind of misunderstanding with the timing of shops being pulled down… we are past that now. We’re just waiting for the next move,” Knight said.
Compensation emerged as another pressing issue for the shop owners, with the prolonged closure of their businesses taking a severe financial toll.
“In terms of compensation, we desperately need it,” said David Guru, another shop owner. “Not only the sanitation, we also need the compensation promised. We’ve not been making any money, the shops are closed. So compensation has to be timely.”
Peto Nichols, Forward’s culture minister, touched on the potential missed opportunity for Temple Yard to participate in the World Cup experience.
“With this location, we can’t perform or get any kind of entertainment done,” he said.
“We’re hoping that they expedite or speed up the process of relocation so we can plan accordingly.”
