The Tribune

• Vendors seek assurance for business impact

• Improving marketing efforts is crucial

By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Straw vendors said yesterday that pedestrianising Bay Street must come with a car park and more marketing of the Straw Market.

Rebecca Small, president of the Straw Business Persons Society, told Tribune Business she is not against the efforts to make Bay Street at the Market Slope a pedestrian zone, and she is willing to work with the efforts to transform the area if it makes sense for vendors.

She said: “My only thing with that would be once the traffic is flowing to the Straw Market that would be a blessing for the straw vendors. But I’ve heard of this some time ago that that was their overall plan to stop the cars on Bay Street.”

The vendors are open to pedestrianising Bay Street, but have said they need to be assured it will not affect their businesses and that they must have a safe place to park their vehicles during the day.

Successive governments had spoke about making Bay Street a pedestrian zone, but movement on the transformation has intensified with the completion of the Nassau Cruise Port earlier this year. “I think our main problem in the Straw Market is that we do not advertise as we should. I think that’s a part of our problem,” Ms Small said.

She also asked: “So if they are going to stop car traffic now, the market alone has a little over 400 shops, so where will the workers and the vendors be parking?”

Parking on Bay Street has been a consistent pain that has only gotten worse as the population grows in New Providence and the tourism sector grows along with it. Successive administrations have balked at the idea of a centralised car park for Downtown, leaving the matter up to private car parks scattered throughout the area.

The Ministry of Tourism, Investments and Aviation engaged a private firm to offer valet services for the Downtown area last month, which was started on a temporary basis with the view in mind for evaluating the system as a long-term solution. “So vendors would be paying for valet parking now?” Ms Small bristled.

Ms Small also said: “Where will you be able to park unless those old dilapidated buildings are transformed into a car park? Unless the government has other plans for those old dilapidated buildings.”

Parking Downtown for vendors will be a “big deal” if the government turns the Market Slope section of Bay Street into pedestrian only. “If this is what they are going to do then I hope that with just having foot traffic, but when we have to leave, where are we going to put our cars?” she asked.

Ms Small also said: “There are 400 vendors alone in here and then the workers in the market, where are all of these cars going to be? This is something to consider for the vendors.”

Ms Small added: “I’m not going to say I favour pedestrianising Downtown or not in favour of pedestrianising it, but if its going to be lucrative at the end of the day then of course I’m in favour of it. Because if they stop all of the cars and there is no business coming through then there is going to be a problem.”