Unhappy hour for BARVEN

THE Barbados Association of Retailers, Vendors and Entrepreneurs (BARVEN) is upset over the opening hours of the Cheapside Public Market.

BARVEN President, Alistair Alexander, said yesterday that the market was being opened an hour later than had been agreed and this was hampering the vendors' sales.

"We had made an agreement with Government to have Cheapside opened at least by 6 o'clock, we wanted it to be opened as early as 5 o'clock," Alexander said.

He added: "For the past two weeks it has been opening at 7 [a.m.] and as far as I know, it is a voluntary situation as far as the staff is concerned to open as early as 6 [a.m.]."

Alexander explained that vendors operating from the BARVEN's temporary outdoor market, located next to Shop Smart, were able to sell before 5 a.m.

The organisation sent a proposal to Government in May last year for the restructuring of the Cheapside market and to date they had received no response, Alexander said.

"In this proposal we made it very, very clear why we would like the market to open at 5 a.m. Generally vending is carried out in hours and not days.

"The operating hours of the market are crucial to the vendors' profitability and this is why the earliest possible opening hours on Fridays and Saturdays are a must for the market," Alexander said.

He is also calling for adequate staff to be in place so the vendors could have access to their produce kept in cold storage.

Acting Manager of Markets Israel Kirton said he would investigate. (DS)