BARVEN Urges Implementation of Contracts for Coconut Vendors' Regulation

The Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN) is asking how long it will take coconut vendors to be given contracts to govern how they sell.

During a recent interview, president Alister Alexander said he sympathised with the concerns of vendors who have been removed from the highway but there had to be order, which was why it was important to get things in writing.

“BARVEN is insisting that these vendors be given contracts; contracts will regulate behaviour and will also protect their rights. At this point in time, some of them are not well behaved and that is not acceptable so those contracts will state in part what is their expected behaviour and those who refuse to comply, we are not going to be wasting time, we are going to be recommending that they be removed and somebody else be given the opportunity to vend. We are for the coconut vendors, we are the ones who protected coconut vendors, but everything has to come to a point of order, every sector has to be organised,” he said.

Alexander admitted there had not been in-depth discussions with vendors over contracts but anecdotal evidence suggested support. He said he also did not know how long the contracts would be issued but figured they should be for a year. As for when they would be issued, he said: “I would like them to be [issued] [last] Thursday so I’m sure that they will soon be in place.”

Vendors plying their trade along Newton, Christ Church, were moved to an area off the ABC Highway, but were complaining about a lack of bathroom facilities, the need for a more convenient location and the inability to leave their tents up. Alexander asked the vendors to give it time.

“Those at Newton have been given the opportunity to ply their trade in an upgraded facility. [What happened was] they were not compliant with what the requirements were for the road, so it was necessary to intervene, and Government intervened by preparing a spot and providing it for them, but it was an urgent intervention, and therefore all that you would like for the facility, that they had planned for the facility, is not there as yet. We expect that there will be bathroom facilities provided and there’s going to be an office of some sort there as well.

“We have always fought for the vendors and for the right to have an opportunity to make a living, but we have insisted that it must be under a regime of order, we are not supporting anything that is disorderly, and they were given a great opportunity,” he said.