SOME VENDORS are calling Crop-Over in general and Grand Kadooment in particular a disorganised affair which only costs them money.The DAILY NATION spoke to a few of them yesterday as they supervised the dismantling of their stalls along Spring Garden.One female vendor, who owns three stalls jointly with her cousin, spoke on condition of anonymity. She said the only reason she would be returning to Kadooment would be to prove she could succeed as she said she hated to fail.She said she lost money on the day because of poor coordination and other difficulties regarding water and distributors.“The [National Cultural Foundation (NCF)] needs to get its act together. I found too many things were not explained to me as a first-timer,” she said.She said the space for the stalls cost $4 600, which did not include labour, parts and supplies.Food vendor Jean Parris also did not enjoy her time on Spring Garden. She said it was the worst in four years.“The stall was too expensive and I didn’t make my money. I found Banks had too many promotions so their drinks were too cheap,” she said.Parris said she paid $1 300 and might have made back that amount but suffered a loss overall as she also had overheads to cover. “She said she paid $900 last year but admitted she was given three feet of additional stall space more.Elvis Smith described Kadooment as “lousy”. It was the second year for him but he said he could not explain why he did so badly.“I can’t say – maybe it was the weather. I just found it all low-key,” he said.Smith said he did not feel he made a profit, especially in light of the increased price of the stalls. He said he paid $1 500 this year in comparison to $1 000 last year.Another vendor of 12 years’ experience, who requested anonymity, said he had a problem with paying so much for a stall that was placed in bad conditions. Pointing to a pool of water next to his stall, which was also near a pipe, he said the stalls were too close and people had to squeeze between stalls to get access to the pipe.“People patronise their friends, [also] people had no money,” he added.The news was not all doom and gloom however. One vendor, Dale Hinkson, said he was surprised by his success.“This year I got an influx of people as I found people were really hungry when they got here,” he said.Despite this, Hinkson said the prices for stall space were “hilarious”.When contacted, NCF corporate communications specialist Wayne Simmons said he “took note of the concerns and would speak to the relevant parties for a response”.
