Manager of Markets in the Ministry of Agriculture, Sherlock King (second from left) in talks with President of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN), Alister Alexander during a walk-through of the City, to assess key vending sites. Accompanying them is (from left) Chairman of the Fairchild Street Market Vendors, Valentino Barrow, Senior Superintendent of Markets, Gregory Payne and BARVEN’s Communications Officer Robert Maloney.
SEEKING SOLUTIONS
Fri, 06/17/2016 - 12:00am
Officials tour City to assess key vending sites
Solutions are being sought to address the problematic issue of some vendors plying their trade on prohibited streets in Bridgetown, as well as the issue of some not getting their permits renewed.
Manager of Markets in the Ministry of Agriculture, Sherlock King acknowledged the above yesterday, as he and other Ministry officials, as well as a team from the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN), embarked on a walk-through of the City, to assess key vending sites and gather information that will prove critical in the decision-making process. The walk-through commenced from Central Police Station, through Busby’s Alley, into Swan Street, on to Bolton Layne and Victoria Street, back on to Swan Street, through the Palmetto Market and then on to Marhill Street.
“We are aware that there are some concerns that vendors have, with respect to not having permits and so on and they are concerned with the action of the police, with respect to those persons that do not have permits. So what we have decided to do and what I have been instructed to do, is to look at this issue with respect to vending in the streets, to identify the issues and to come up with solutions to the benefit of everybody. Of course everybody cannot be accommodated on the streets,” King told members of the media after the walk-through.
“Any decision we take will have to be taken against the background that we are looking at sanitation, the issue of pedestrian traffic, and balancing that with the demands and requirements of the vendors,” he added.
“The purpose of it is to assess the entire situation we have on the streets, to go back to the drawing board and to make a decision on it” King said.
King stressed that the aim is to have a regulated environment, by which vendors can operate without fear of repercussions or criminalisation.
Stressing that the Markets and Slaughter-houses Act permits both indoor and outdoor vending, King said that the Ministry’s aim was not to prevent anyone from earning a living. However, he acknowledge that there has been a suspension placed on permits and due to the assessments being made, some vendors may not be able to ply their trade in the areas they are accustomed to, but they may be given other options.
King said that Ministry officials will discuss the findings and probable solutions in deeper detail and the decisions made will be communicated to vendors’ representatives. (RSM)