THE TRANSPORT BOARD moved against the operators of a number of kiosks at its Fairchild Street Bridgetown complex and padlocked them after tenants ran up thousands of dollars in rental arrears.
Bailiff George Alleyne, acting on behalf of the board, padlocked the shops whose operators were not there at the time.
Alleyne reported “there was over $150 000 in arrears of booth rent” and it was his duty “with authorisation from the cash-strapped Transport Board to make sure that they get in their monies”.
He said the offenders had to pay or they would not be allowed access to the facilities.
The bailiff also noted that some vendors who rented the kiosks, sublet the properties and, based on an investigation he carried out, it was revealed the original renter was charged approximately $294 a month and “then people charging foreign people $250 a week and collecting this rent, and we realised it has been going on for about four or five years”.
Efforts to reach marketing and corporate communications manager of the Transport Board, Lynda Holder, for a comment on the situation proved futile. (JS)