The Tribune

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Straw vendors yesterday accused the Straw Market Authority (SMA) of not being “candid” with them about its plans for the downtown facility ahead of the July 1 post-COVID-19 borders re-opening.

Reverend Esther Thompson, president of the Straw Business Persons Society, told Tribune Business: “We are still waiting to meet with the SMA on further directions; nothing has been finalised as yet. The stalls are already designed for social distancing because they are three by six. Each stall is three by six, and the length of the stalls is six feet, so I don’t see where that will be a big problem. Plus we have a lot of empty stalls in there so we can make adjustments if need be.”

Some 371 stalls at the downtown Straw Market, or 74 percent, were occupied prior to the COVID-19 lockdown out of a total of 500. Rev Thompson added: “We had two meetings and we are supposed to meet again to come up with the final opening decision.

“I don’t think the SMA is being candid with the vendors. Another issue the vendors have is with the National Insurance Board (NIB). They are inconsistent, and some vendors up to this day have not gotten a dollar yet.”

Explaining what she meant about the SMA “not being candid”, Rev Thompson added: “The Ministry of Tourism had a plan. My position is how can the Ministry of Tourism come out with a plan for the straw vendors and we are not under that ministry? We are under the Ministry of Works, and when we confronted the SMA about it they claimed they didn’t know anything about it.

“This was at the first meeting. At the second meeting, the SMA brought in the proposal of how they plan to structure the market, but I said to them: ‘You had just told us that you didn’t know anything about what the Ministry of Tourism had put in place, so how come you are coming in with a plan with the same thing that the Ministry of Tourism is saying?’

“They are not being candid. I have a problem with this, because I don’t know if we are going to be blindsided with the Ministry of Tourism’s position, where they say that 50 percent of the persons have to come out of the market,” Rev Thompson continued. “They showed us two models. Our position is, if all vendors cannot be accommodated then we want none.”

Asked whether straw vendors could be accommodated on Prince George Wharf if more space was needed, Rev Thompson said: “They didn’t make the provisions for us the first time; that was something we had to do. The SMA didn’t do that. The association organised that, and that was a lot of hassle, but I guarantee you vendors wouldn’t mind.

“I don’t think we want to get to that permanently, and we would rather be in the market. You had to tote your goods with you every day when you are on the dockside. It is a lot of work and insecure. We would prefer to be in the market.”

Rev Thompson also complained that NIB had deducted pension payments due to straw vendors from the unemployment benefits they had received from NIB as self-employed persons. “Vendor’s pension is between $250 to $320, and out of the $800 in government assistance, they took the difference,” she said.

“Some vendors got like $500, and our position is the government assistance shouldn’t have anything to do with your pension, because your pension is something you made contributions for. One shouldn’t have anything to do with the other. The $200 per week is supposed to be income replacement.

“It is just too much injustice going on. These ministers are not really getting down on the ground to find out what is going on with the people, and they believe whatever these people tell them that work in the system and the people on the ground are hurting.”

“You heard them come out and say that the vendors are going to get $200, but you didn’t hear them say that if you are on a pension we are going to take it out of your pension. None of these things are coming out, so the public believes that every vendor is getting $200 and that is not the case.”