There is a fear among Potter’s Cay fish and conch vendors, that the sale of seafood from fishing vessels in the area may lead to the closure of their businesses.
Potter’s Cay Fish, Fruit and Vegetable Association Chairman Dale Butler told the Guardian yesterday that that is a matter the government needs to look into, in a bid to prevent the loss of more jobs.
“What that is doing is threatening the livelihood of about 10 of our marine vendors. The government needs to look into their [the owners’] licences to see if those boats should be selling as they are or maybe have them sell in a different area because otherwise, in a very short order, our vendors are going to be out of work,” Mr Butler said.
The Guardian attempted to contact Minister of Agriculture and Fisheries Alfred Gray for a comment on the matter, but was told he was out of the country. A call placed to The Office of the Permanent Secretary Camille Johnson, was not returned up to press time.
However, according to one of the fishing boat owners who spoke to the Guardian on the condition of anonymity, their being at the Potter’s Cay Dock in no way interferes with the livelihood of the vendors.
“Like them, we are only trying to make a living. Our being here is only giving the public a number of choices to choose from, in getting their marine products. We have no intention of putting anyone out of a job,” the man said angrily.
“That is utter foolishness.”
According to Mr Butler, the sale of fish from the boats is one of the many pressing issues the Potter’s Cay vendors are facing. He called for the speedy resolution to the age-old debate of whether the vendors are going to be given permanent status under the bridge.
“That item has been an open issue for the last 20 years. We as an association, now need to bring it to a head.
“We have to deal with that permanency issue before anything else and to do that, we must be responsible. We can’t have the government agency saying we are not paying our rent, or we are not keeping the place clean and are not acting decently,” he said. Mr Butler charged that this is a major issue for the Association this year, and hopefully, it would be resolved. In the meantime, he hoped that with the improvements made to the stalls and the vendor’s attitudes, such factors would be instrumental in helping to seal their fate in this regard.
By: KEVA LIGHTBOURNE, Senior Reporter, The Nassau Guardian
