President of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN) Alister Alexander is calling on the Government to share details of its proposed vending zones, saying the body has been left in the dark about the plans.He said on Thursday that BARVEN had no idea how the plan would be executed, although the idea for such zones was BARVEN’s “brainchild”.Speaking during a press conference at BARVEN’s outdoor market on the Mighty Grynner Highway, Alexander said the association was aware that construction of the National Vending Facility at Redman’s Village, St Thomas had started. However, he said, it had not received any official notification about how vendors would be facilitated on-site when work was completed.“In our document Progressive Solutions for Vending, we call such places vending villages, they call them vending zones. What we have found with the Government is that communication is erratic – to say there is no communication would not be true.
President of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN), Alister Alexander, said the burden to provide healthy meals for students should not fall on vendors alone. “You need to also deal with importations like what is being imported and what they [students] are able to access before they come to school like supermarkets and retail places. It would be a hole-in-the-basket policy if you have a situation where …
Some stakeholders in the agriculture sector are reporting a shortage of lettuce and tomatoes.And they are blaming heavy rainfall for the scarcity.Chief executive officer of the Barbados Agricultural Society (BAS) James Paul and president of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN) Alister Alexander told Barbados TODAY that farmers were experiencing challenges during the wet season as the rain was destroying their crops and saturating their fields.“Yes they are scarce and it is because of the climatic conditions,” said Alexander. “At this time of year you will have scarcity of most crops, it is a norm and it is not a sign that farmers are not planting as some people may think. In Barbados we experience scarcity and glut and they are associated with the seasons.“In the dry season we get glut and in the wet season we get scarcity. How do we solve this problem? BARVEN has put forward a suggestion to Government that we look at a planned planting regi
Coconut vendors in the Warrens area have been warned to keep their work areas clean, as their representative promises to back the strong responses by the authorities against any vendors, who continue to create health challenges for neighbouring businesses.During a visit to the area near the Everton Weekes roundabout on Monday, Ministry of Health officials along with personnel from the Sanitation Service Authority (SSA) removed discarded coconut shells and other refuse from the site, in an effort to address growing environmental concerns.SSA Public Relations Officer Carl Padmore, said the Ministry of Health had given notice to some vendors who operate in the area to clean their surroundings, as rodents and mosquitoes had become a problem.
Street vendors and farmers reaped sizeable profits from the 2022 Crop Over Festival although it was not a “bumper” season for them.The heads of various farming and vendor associations reported a positive outcome and an uptick in sales during the annual summer festival that returned after a two-year hiatus, following the ease in restrictions that had been implemented as a result of COVID-19.Vice-president of the Barbados Pig Farmers Co-operative Society Ltd David Catlyn told Barbados TODAY members saw increased sales, particularly from people who visited the island to take part in the festivities as well as from food vendors at various events.He added that the demand for pudding and souse was also picking back up and the co-op’s membership was taking full advantage of that.President of the Pig Farmers Association Henderson Williams said the season concluded on a high note for his members.He said while statistics were not available at this time, “from a brief assessment of what w