FROM RIGHT: Minister of Housing, Lands and Rural Development, Denis Kellman; Interim Chairman of the Association of Public Transport Operators (APTO), Morris Lee; and Minister of Transport and Works, Michael Lashley along with others who toured the new terminal building yesterday, looking down to where the PSVs operate.
The vendors operating in the area of the Constitution River Terminal now have until January 3, 2017 to move to facilitate further work on the new passenger concourse which is to be built.
That’s the word from Minister of Transport and Works, Michael Lashley. He was speaking yesterday morning at the ceremony to mark the designation of the Constitution River Terminal and the groundbreaking for the new passenger concourse to be constructed adjacent to that terminal.
He explained that once the vendors move, it will pave the way for that concourse, which is phase two of the $3 million River Terminal Re-development Project to be completed. He said that phase 2 is expected to take 36 weeks to complete and he is urging the contractors JADA Builders Inc. to come in on time and on budget.
He noted that his Ministry is sensitive to the concerns of the vendors and did not intend in any way to take a “heavy handed approach” in the matter of their relocation.
Lashley told those gathered for the ceremony, which included President of the Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN), Alister Alexander, that the Ministry, recognising the urgency of the project, has initiated a set of consultations with the relevant stakeholders in an effort to create new arrangement for vendors, which can be instituted in the new terminal.
“I said only on Monday that this phase [Phase 2] will start, but I also want the other phase to start too. And that let us get an architect on board as soon as possible, let us look at the costing, let us look and see how in the best way, in the most economical way, to ensure that we have these vendors, of course who were here for some time, follow the regulations within the laws of Barbados; and that they have documents to show that they are part of BARVEN and that they are legitimate in terms of their business,” he said.
Minister Lashley added then that with the coming into effect of the new vending arrangement, the new Constitution River Terminal will provide a clean, attractive and healthy venue for vendors to ply their trade. He made the point while noting that it will also provide the enabling environment to allow persons to grow their business.
(JRT)
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