Leader of the Opposition, Mia Mottley (right), accepts a token of appreciation from BARVEN’s Secretary, Jannis Greenidge.
Vendors deserve better
Sat, 11/26/2016 - 12:00am
Leader of the Opposition Mia Mottley says it is time to settle the arrangements which govern how vendors can ply their trade in Bridgetown.
Speaking to the media yesterday evening, moments after accepting a token of appreciation from the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN), during a ceremony in Palmetto Mall for the support she has given the organisation over the years, she said that is one aspect of the “unfinished business” relative to that sector which has to be addressed as a matter of urgency. She made the point while noting that it is regrettable that there are legislative changes regarding that sector that have been pending since she was Attorney General.
“We have to decriminalise illegal vending; no man should become a criminal because of the rules and regulations. By the same token, Government has to facilitate it and treat it differently,” she maintained.
She added, “There are too many persons who just simply want to make a living for their families and they are being made to be treated as criminals.”
Mottley told reporters that when persons were sent home due to Government retrenchment efforts, Government should have created opportunities for those persons and vending she suggested was a viable option for some of them.
On another note, she lauded the vending community contending that vendors exhibit the exact qualities that the whole private sector would do well to emulate. She was speaking specifically in relation to their willingness to take risks.
Moreover, she said that their entrepreneurial spirit is what the authorities should be celebrating and not trying to oppress.
“Rest assured that we recognise that there can be no true economic enfranchisement until we have a different relationship with vendors in this country and that different relationship extends from facilities, the manner in which we relate to them, the manner in which we regulate them, the manner in which the laws apply to them. And as long as there is breath in my body whether in Parliament or outside, I will continue to do, because were it not for vendors tens of thousands of Barbadians, scores of thousands of Barbadians would not have been able to be sent to school or to live, or to move to the next level,” she said.
Mottley is therefore adamant that vending must be used as a basis for harnessing entrepreneurial activity to help the country produce more and grow. (JRT)