Vendors
Reporter
carisa.lee@cnc3.co.tt
Chief Secretary Farley Augustine says pop-up tents will be provided to 15 vendors whose tents were destroyed by police on the Pigeon Point stretch along Swallows Bay, Tobago, yesterday.
At the same time, the Tobago House of Assembly (THA) is working on building a permanent platform for them.
In a Facebook Live yesterday, Augustine said the move was necessary to clean up the water’s edge and ensure those who vend there can do so safely so “that for generations they can operate, operate safely, operate meeting the health code and operate in a way that their business can actually mushroom, their business can grow.”
The vendors admitted they were warned before yesterday.
“They passed in the week and the police told us that they coming to break down the places, but they did not tell us when,” vendor Bernadette Maxima said.
She said Bon Accord/Crown Point Assemblyman Joel “Nuttsy” Sampson visited them on Thursday and said they were “going to come and break down everybody” if they could not provide proof they were permitted to operate in the space.
“So everybody has to move because we didn’t get the man to sign the paper for us,” she said.
Maxima, who has been vending there for some three decades, said she does not know how she and the other vendors will survive.
“Is years now I selling here,” she said.
Augustine said the area is being realigned so the vendors can continue to operate safely. Tents and folding tables should be delivered to the vendors today and those who cook food will be provided with plumbing.
“The tents will be placed close to each other, so they are not just all over the place scattered around the waterfront and we are advising the vendors that when you are finished in the evening, fold up your tents and tables and take them home with you,” he said.
Augustine said only the 15 vendors who were originally there will be given tents and the THA is not catering for others to sell in the space. He said a team will also visit the vendors on No Man’s Land.