Birds and bandits. This is all the Central Market in Sea Lots, Port-of-Spain, has to offer vendors who are to be removed from the Salvatori building site. Spokesman for the vendors, Steve Fletcher, made the comment during an interview with the T&T Guardian.
At last week’s statutory meeting of the Port-of-Spain City Corporation at City Hall, mayor Raymond Tim Kee told members of the media that the vendors are to vacate the premises by mid-February.
In a brief interview at the Salvatori site, Fletcher said he was disgusted at what he saw at Central Market.
Fletcher recently visited the market and videotaped the conditions at the market.
He said there were rats running, bags of garbage, rotten galvanise, leaking pipes, rivers of bottles harbouring mosquitoes, bird faeces every where and vagrants.
“That is a place that was going to be used for the fish vendors and they refused to go there,” he said.
Fletcher, a father of five, and stepfather to 10, said the coconut business he did at the Salvatori site was his livelihood.
He said the lives of the people were more precious than the parking lot which would be replacing them.
“They killing the city. Is human life not worth more than a parking lot?” he asked giving a coconut two chops with a cutlass.
Wendy Walker, a nail technician, who was at the market for six years but moved to Salvatori, said she used to do nails at Central Market and sold underwear.
“My customers were told and they said they will be getting a new nail technician. So I going home to scratch and then I will tell my landlord I scratching.”
She said in addition to problems it had an overwhelming smell of the area.
“It have a smell from Beetham and John John, the abattoir and down there,” she said.
Walker said the area would also harbour animosity because of the competition they would represent.
“That is a fight down place and now we would be going there,” she said.
It have birds there defecating on people head. People getting rob. Seriously, that place is between Beetham and John John,” she said.
Walker said she had to give away some of her goods because of birds were defecating on the items.
“You know how many clothes I had to give away? And the place smelling frowsy. Bird messing on your head and feathers all in your head and your customer head. I saw them rob an old lady, I was so sorry for her. The man (bandit) said the ‘Lord is my shepherd I shall not want, now give me your handbag.’”
Lisa Alexander, one of the other vendors who is a grandmother, said she was not able to go back out on the streets and sell goods.
“Is 35 years I sell on the street. I know. I don’t want to go back in that thing. I got hold four times for that. I have a heart problem now and I not able,” she said.
Alexander said the only result of this is that vendors will go back out on the streets and sell.
“Then is the police holding you and paying excessive amount to get it back and not all you getting back. It is the poor people suffering. We vote PNM and they not helping us,” she said.
Customers who visited Fletcher and Alexander said it was not a good idea to move the vendors. Some customers said they would not go the Central Market.
Eleanor Blackman said the area was convenient because it was on Independence Square.
Nicole Bennett, another customer, said it will be an inconvenience if the vendors move because she comes to town four days a week, she said as she bought portugals from Alexander.
Christina Vincent, a tourist, who was bought coconut water from Fletcher, said she saw too much crime in Trinidad.
“For a person living outside I would not go there,” she said.
A response from an e-mail sent from officials at the Urban Development Corporation (Udecott) said the aggrieved vendors they will not be given another extension.
Meanwhile, Tim Kee said he was willing to meet with the vendors.
