Keep ‘constant watch’ on beach vending

ONE OF THE BUSINESS owners along the popular Browne’s Beach is still unsatisfied with the level of policing there.Sean Defreitas, owner of The Boatyard, said authorities have tried to curb illegal vending practices but further enforcement was needed.“There are mostly good, hard-working people working on the beach but there will always be an issue when you have 20 or 30 vendors on a beach and most of them follow the rules while two do not, because those two will then make more money and the rest will have to break the rules or they would not be able to get by,” he said.Defreitas, who was speaking to the DAILY NATION recently at The Boatyard in Bay Street, The City, said there was a need for a constant eye because when a visitor had a bad experience, it went back much further than people thought.“When a jet ski operator cheats or curses a tourist, they take it back to their homes and it affects us all. Some of the vendors here believe that tourists are only here for a short time so they try to take advantage of them but word gets back and affects other tourists who would be coming here,” he said.Most of the vendors and National Conservation Commission rangers quizzed reported no problems working on the beach. Jet ski operator Terry Sandiford said it was quiet right now as the season started back in October and the only time cruise ships came in was on Wednesdays.Ricardo Newton, who works with Harbour Lights, said the season was “dead” now, adding it was the rainy season. He reported no problems with rangers nor unlicensed vendors.Omar Taylor works on a glass bottom boat. He said business was going “pretty good”.“It’s only round this time it gets slow but those with a level head realise there’s a slow and a high season, so if you respect that, then there’s nothing to complain about,” he said.For their part, the rangers said the vendors usually complied when they had to be spoken to and illegal vending was non-existent, at least during the off season. (CA)