FISHERFOLK?at the Weston, St James market are hopping mad over rules that were posted in the market this week in the form of a notice.
But management says the rules are nothing new and will be enforced.
Last Wednesday evening a number of notices were stuck on the doors and the walls of the market listing seven operational procedures that fishermen and fish vendors would have to follow with immediate effect.
The notice stated that all security gates must be kept closed; only licensed fish vendors and fishermen would be allowed in the market; toll must be paid on all fish landed; no fish cleaning would be allowed on the exterior of the market; no unlicensed persons would be allowed to clean fish inside or outside the market; and smoking and use of alcoholic beverages were prohibited.
Manager of markets Henderson Greaves told the WEEKEND?NATION that the rules were not new but had been put in place two and a half years ago when a man entered the complex and stabbed a female vendor about the body.
“At that time the minister instructed me to ensure that the premises were always secured. The doors were supposed to be locked and doorbells were installed so that visitors could announce themselves. All of these rules were put in place at Consett Bay, Skeetes Bay and Weston. None of these provisions are new,” he stated.
He said a member of staff at the market was involved in an incident with an unregistered and unlicensed fisherman three weeks ago and was still on sick leave. He pointed out that even though that person had been charged “he was still hanging out at the market”.
Greaves also said the practice of people without health certificates scaling and boning fish outside the market would also not be allowed. In fact, he said, if anyone was caught doing this the fish would be confiscated.
The manager explained that letters were sent to members of the fisherfolk association inviting them to a meeting at his Graeme Hall, Christ Church office to discuss the matter but no one turned up.
“It is the health of the nation that the market is most concerned about. We have to ensure that the commodity sold for human consumption is safe,” he stated.
However, Weston fisherfolk have accused management of placing the notices without any dialogue with them. “I tell them I can’t read,” vendor Patsy Worrell stated facetiously.
She charged that not allowing unlicensed people to clean fish would affect a number of people who helped them out by scaling and boning fish at the market.
“These people depend on that little money to pay their bills and buy food,” she said.
She also charged that since last week the doors to the bathroom were being locked at 6 p.m. although vendors usually finished working at 8 p.m.
Fisherman Chelston Thomas said keeping the doors locked would affect fishermen who usually entered the market to pay their toll.
And he stated that fishermen usually cleaned their catch on the beach because the market was too small to accommodate all of them.
“They are running the people from around the market that born and raise here,” Thomas said.
