The native collection of stalls on Potter’s Cay will be offline for a few days as essential repairs and upgrades are undertaken to transform the area into one that markets Heritage Tourism.
Members of the Potter’s Cay Dock Market Enhancement Committee touring the market, on August 4, to inspect areas of concern.ﾠﾠThe committee, which comprises various relevant government agencies, vendor association representatives and private sector stakeholders, aims to redevelop Potter’s Cay into “an enhanced family-oriented Bahamian Public Market with access to all modern-day facilities, infrastructure and conveniences, which will allow the various users and stakeholders to co-exist in a commercially successful atmosphere that is safe and friendly to the environment.
There have long been concerns about the inadequacies of the unattractive wooden stalls which are a popular hang-out for many persons.
“As you know the Ministry of Tourism is not in a position to promote this market in its present state,” said Angela Cleare, director of product development.
“After having had this walk about, the conditions are even worse than I thought. I want to emphasize that there is a demand for waterfront attractions like this. People want to come and see sugar apples, crab, and conch being prepared. There is a big market for heritage tourism.”
She was one of several people on a special committee designed to spearhead the changes who inspected the site yesterday.
At present, 74 stalls line the Potter’s Cay Dock, 20 of which have been converted into mini restaurants. Nineteen of them sell fresh seafood products, while four sell the native delicacy of conch salad. At 30 stalls, fresh fruits and vegetables are sold.
Tourism officials have taken an interest in this transformation as there is more emphasis being placed on enhancing the tourism product across the country.
Officials will spearhead the beautification process including the placement of benches, planters, and flowering plants.
“If you were to inspect some of the exit survey forms, what tourists are saying is that they would like to see more of the Bahamian culture. Another thing, visitors are concerned about are two things; safety, and cleanliness and neither of them are here,” Ms. Cleare said referring to the area.
“So until we can bring this dock up to world class standards, you would be surprised to see the number of persons flocking here. We see this as an excellent opportunity to promote heritage tourism and cannot wait to work with the committee to make it happen.”
The committee that is spearheading the changes over the next three days consists of seven government agencies and two private stakeholders expected to improve and refurbish the dock’s market area, making it a safe and acceptable vending site.
Parliamentary Secretary in the Ministry of Health Ron Pinder heads the Potter’s Cay Dock Market Enhancement Committee.
“The focus of the committee is the market area specifically. The initiative will in no way conflict or interfere with the work of the Ministry of Transport and Aviation and the Port Authority with respect to the new security features that will be put in place at the eastern end of the Potter’s Cay Dock area,” Mr. Pinder said.
“The committee confined itself to the market area and as I mentioned before there are a number of recommendations that came from the committee meetings and what we are now doing is beginning the implementation phase of the short term recommendations.”
Challenges and concerns related to the Potter’s Cay area are complicated and diverse, officials said, referring to the lack of enforcement of rules and regulations.
Vendors have been accused of breaching environmental and health standards, indiscriminate dumping and having inadequate infrastructure. Additionally, vagrants plague the area, there is traffic congestion and unregulated parking.
“The committee members including the Potter’s Cay Market Association have agreed on a short term closure of about two to three days to do a general overhaul of this facility. It will include painting the stalls, removing all the garbage and debris, removing some of the dilapidated stalls, destroying and repairing them, based on the recommendations of the various agencies including the Ministry of Works, the Department of Environmental Health Services, and the Royal Bahamas Police Force via its Fire Brigade,” Mr. Pinder said.
Under the lease agreement with the government, the vendors should pay $125 per quarter, but officials estimated that the small businesspersons owe tens of thousands of dollars in back rent.
Officials at the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries have made plans to initiate a payment plan to ensure that individual vendors are in compliance with lease agreements and further plans are being made to facilitate a meeting with the New Providence Licensing Committee designed to address the issue of the granting of liquor licenses with specified conditions.
The Port Department has also committed to removing the damaged and derelict vessels from the immediate waterfront.
By: Perez Clarke, The Bahama Journal
