BUSINESS in the new Palmetto vendors market got off to a slow start yesterday.
The few produce vendors operating said the market opened promptly at 7 a.m., but most of the produce stalls and the clothes stalls remained empty.
Around 10 a.m., a group of women were in one of the clothes stalls discussing how they would set up shop.
However, they said they were unable to move in as yet since they still owed arrears to the High Street Mall.
One of the stipulations by the Ministry of Agriculture is that no vendor can move into the new mall if they are in arrears at any other Government-operated vendors mall.
Despite this, the women said they were happy with the spacious, clean stalls and only had a few criticisms of the design.
However, two clothes vendors opted to remain in their accustomed positions alongside the street in front of the mall.
One of them said he did not attend the meeting with the ministry on Sunday and would remain where he was until told otherwise while the other said she was waiting on the Minister [of Agriculture Dr David Estwick] to sort out what she thought were unfair placements.
There were still a few complaints about the condition of the mall as one of the shutters did not open and the air conditioning unit in the interior was not operating.
One vendor also wanted to know if cold storage facilities would be provided for produce such as broccoli and “to drink a little cold water”.
While interviewing the vendors, shopper Andrina Welch hurt her ankle after stepping into the centre drainage. A vendor said Welch was the sixth person to do so, a situation that could end up causing legal trouble for the ministry.
In general, though, vendors gave the new mall a passing grade.
Beatrice Young and Nigel Clarke said they were happy with the stalls and everything was in order with water and bathroom facilities; they just had to adjust to the new regimen.
