The Tribune

By DANA SMITH

Tribune Staff Reporter

dsmith@tribunemedia.net

FOLLOWING the suspension of more than 50 Straw Market stalls found to be hundreds of dollars in arrears, vendors had mixed reactions to the move – saying the layout of the market may contribute to the challenge in meeting payments.

Vice-president of the Straw Business Persons Society, Laverne Crawley, said yesterday the Straw Market Authority temporarily closed down stalls on Monday after the owners were found to have owed anywhere between $900 and $1,600 in overdue rent.

In order to operate in the market, vendors have to pay a weekly fee of $35.

“The market has to be run and you need money to run the market so I think it was fair,” she said of the Authority’s decision. “It was the intention of the government to allow the market to function off the revenue that it receives off vendors. So when the revenue is not coming in, it’s kind of tight on the board (Authority).”

When asked how the vendors allowed their arrears to get so high, Ms Crawley explained some vendors often don’t make enough at their respective stalls because of location.
“Some people make money and some people don’t. There are some stalls where people really don’t make much. Because of the design of the market it’s kind of difficult – some areas just don’t have no tourists flowing through it and it makes it hard for them,” she said.

“The $35 may seem like a little bit, but at the end of the week when you haven’t made anything it’s kind of rough, it’s kind of difficult. But it’s good that the Authority stepped in because it forces people who are outstanding to try and become current.”

Another vendor, Mary Lewis, criticised the Authority for its decision to temporarily close down stalls and questioned how vendors are expected to pay off their arrears if their stalls are closed.

“We have to pay the government and nobody in here is disputing that fact because we have to give the government their due and their revenue,” she said. “But if you go to court, if you are a tenant, the landlord cannot put you out in two weeks. The judge gives you ample time.”

The Authority should be more sympathetic Ms Lewis said, explaining vendors often have a difficult time getting business. “In here is very slow. Sometimes you can hardly make $30 a day. It fluctuates,” she said.

“One minute were up, the next minute we’re down. When you’re up, you try to meet all those bills that you had to catch up with – all of the house bills and the school fees and different things that everyone has to do.”

She called the weekly rate of $35 is too expensive and said payments should differ for different stalls depending on their location and size.

Stalls closer to the entrance and the larger stalls in the centre of the market make more money than those down the aisles on the western end of the building, Ms Lewis claimed.

“All of the stalls should be the exact same size,” she said. “Everyone should have the same size shop if we’re paying the same amount.”

Prime Minister Perry Christie also weighed in on the situation yesterday, not taking a particular side, but calling attention to the fact the country has “challenges.”

He said one vendor whose stall was closed down had recently been turned out of her apartment, adding that there are Bahamians across the country who are facing “extreme difficulty”.