The Tribune

By TANYA SMITH-CARTWRIGHT

tsmith-cartwright@tribunemedia.net

ARAWAK Cay and Potter’s Cay vendors feel they are being unfairly targeted after Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis shut the areas down in light of rising COVID-19 cases.

Dr Minnis made the announcement on Sunday. Vendors are angry that other restaurants are allowed to open with outdoor dining and limited indoor seating while they have to suspend operations.

Lillian Larrimore-Smith, vice president of the Arawak Cay, Conch, Fish, Vegetables and Food Vendors Association, questioned why the popular spot has been shut down when no COVID-19 cases have been traced to the area.

She said popular fast food franchises — such as Wendy’s and Pizza Hut — had employees test positive, yet their operations were not forced to close.

“How can the Prime Minister strictly tell us we are closed and we don’t even have any COVID-19 cases at any of our establishments here? Pizza Hut and Wendy’s had cases and they were not closed down,” she said.

“There are also some places in New Providence that never closed when everywhere else was closed down and they never practised social distancing either. And the police are in no way monitoring those places. So, my question is how can you shut down the place that is being monitored?”

Ms Larrimore-Smith said restaurant owners have monitored social distancing, adding there is a police presence at Arawak Cay.

“Listening to his address, the PM is saying we are closed until some reform to social distancing takes place,” she continued. “In reference to that, I believe that the business owners of Arawak Cay have been doing an excellent job in maintaining that. If you have three or four persons in violation, that’s fine, then you deal with them through the legal authorities.

“The police and members of our association make sure persons that come into Arawak Cay are wearing their masks, so even if it’s not being done on the entire island, Arawak Cay has the daily monitoring of the police so for the Prime Minister to close us down, I am not understanding that. We have the police out here, we have the association leaders and members doing walkabouts on a daily basis to ensure measures are in place and everyone is adhering to the rules.”

She said there are 32 vendors with over 200 staff members at Arawak Cay. Taking family members into account, she believes more than 1,000 people who will be affected by Arawak Cay’s closure.

“We also have the restaurants and persons that are selling food, they have their stock that they have bought,” she said. “They have spent thousands of dollars in inventories. The Prime Minister was abrupt in closing us down and he didn’t even give us a chance to put measures in place to deal with the excess of food items that we have in our refrigerators and freezers.”

She fears financial disaster for the vendors, the employees and their families. The association plans to send a letter to Dr Minnis urging him to reopen Arawak Cay. Based on his response, the vendors may take further action, but she declined to elaborate.

Ricardo Williams, proprietor of Drifters, said all the vendors want is a level playing field.

“We know his decision is not backed by the science of it. In my opinion it is also not backed by logic either, because when you look at the fact that you have every other restaurant going unhindered while doing their business, we have to ask, what makes us so different especially the fact that we just spent thousands of dollars installing signage, hand sanitizers and an inventory?

“We should remember that when we first closed, we lost all that inventory. We then reopened and put new inventory in the place; now we are losing that inventory again. That is thousands of dollars going down the drain again. Maybe these big companies can afford that, but for the smaller business persons, that right there, is definitely hard to absorb.”

Meanwhile, an irate vendor at Potter’s Cay is upset that sufficient warning was not given. He, too, has complained about product that was lost due to the last closure.

“Right now we have already purchased thousands of dollars worth of products for our stalls and now this closure with no warning,” the vendor said. “At least give us two days warning to say you are closing Potter’s Cay Dock and Arawak Cay. But, right now just to go on the radio and to close us down just like that after I have already invested my money. Come on man. There is no consideration given to the small man.

“We have followed all the guidelines the ministry has put in place. We have put up the signs, you get your grease trap, you get your water heater, you’ve done all your sanitization. I do not serve anyone without their masks on, so why am I being punished? Can someone from the relevant authority please tell me why am I being punished for following the rules?”

After a near three month closure, vendors and stall owners at Potter’s Cay and Arawak Cay were allowed to reopen for business in mid-June. However, the areas were not allowed to resume indoor dining, only outdoor seating and takeaway services.