ON ANY SATURDAY MORNING, vendors and customers in Bridgetown create a bustling and interesting City.
It is a tradition: vendors dutifully offer their food and other goods to loyal customers. It is trade and commerce at its best.
So whether it rains or the sun shines, the boxes, coolers and baskets of seasonal produce, pickled meats and fish and freshly baked breads and pastries are offloaded at recognized points in our City.
We have set certain standards for these facilities as can be seen in the Government-operated markets across The City. Vending space is in great demand and the Barbados Association of Vendors and Retailers (BARVEN) has sought to complement the state’s efforts through its outdoor market at Cheapside. While this is a laudable effort, the facility is plagued with problems.
It was supposed to have been a temporary setup but years on it seems to be a permanent fixture.
It is a tacky eyesore, and vagrants’ use of it at night as a place of rest creates additional problems. It is uncomfortable for customers when it rains, it lacks proper sanitation and it clearly needs proper security at nights.
Despite the facility’s present usefulness, it needs a major overhaul. We cannot accept any empty arguments such as that it is for “the small man” as the reason the problems should be overlooked or even accepted. The focus must of necessity be on standards: cleanliness and the best in health and comfort for both trader and customer.
The truth is that the refurbishment of the BARVEN outdoor market should be part of a wider clean-up of Bridgetown, an undertaking which would require a clear plan, part of which should be the provision of another facility to house the vagrants who have been removed from the streets.
Apart from the usual homeless people, there are also the mentally ill who wander the streets, as well as drug addicts, some of whom we seem to have given up trying to help. They must be given specialized care and medication where applicable. Solutions must be implemented without trampling anyone’s rights, but vagrants cannot be allowed to create havoc in the lives (and livelihoods) of hundreds of others.
While the situation must be of primary concern to BARVEN, it has implications beyond this group of vendors and small traders. It is a matter of national concern and requires the involvement of the business community, law enforcement, the church, the law courts and relevant Government agencies to come up with new ideas to control a growing national problem.
At a time when we are promoting self-reliance, small business and enterprise, we need to encourage thrift and commerce, not allow unnecessary impediments to thwart progress.
Clearly, BARVEN needs to take firm action, inclusive of stepping up its lobbying for enhanced facilities.
