Health authorities order wayside coconut vendors to keep area tidy

Coconut vendors in the Warrens area have been warned to keep their work areas clean, as their representative promises to back the strong responses by the authorities against any vendors, who continue to create health challenges for neighbouring businesses.

During a visit to the area near the Everton Weekes roundabout on Monday, Ministry of Health officials along with personnel from the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) removed discarded coconut shells and other refuse from the site, in an effort to address growing environmental concerns.

SSA Public Relations Officer Carl Padmore, said the Ministry of Health had given notice to some vendors who operate in the area to clean their surroundings, as rodents and mosquitoes had become a problem.

“The Ministry of Health would have served notice to a set of vendors who would ply their trade…This stemmed from an investigation by the health and safety department at Massy as well as the Ministry of Health where they discovered that over time, mosquitoes were breeding in the coconut shells that were left for days.

“The investigations [found] that there was some action happening with rats coming out from the side of the roadway where the men were plying as well,” he explained.

Padmore insisted that the SSA had no problem with vendors using the area to ply their trade, however he suggested that the vendors owed it to themselves and to businesses around them to be responsible.

“We want you to know that it is your responsibility to remove the shells immediately after the day is done. If you do that, you will minimise the spread of things like dengue, you will minimise the spread of things like mice.”

Meanwhile, President of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN), Alister Alexander told Barbados TODAY, that the situation was unacceptable, and promised that if further action was taken by the government against individual vendors who repeatedly flouted health and safety protocols, the organisation would openly support the move.

“We have, on more than one occasion, spoken to coconut vendors in that area over the years and have warned them to make sure that when they leave, they leave the premises clean. We have also cautioned them to not allow material from the coconuts to run into the road and such like.

“Even in light of the law that has been passed [National Vending Bill 2021], it’s a bill of rights, not a bill of rights to do wrong. Therefore, if through whatever legal means they have to be removed if they cannot hear, then they would have to be removed. If they prefer to be removed instead of complying with what is reasonable, BARVEN will go as far as to say they would back the removal.”

The BARVEN president added that the situation was an unfortunate one, given the staunch defence put by the association on behalf of the vendors to remain in the area. 

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb