by TONY BEST

CENTRALLY LOCATED open air vendors markets in Bridgetown would help bring the Government's "harassment of vendors" to a screeching halt.

At the same time, such a plan would allow men and women to "ply their wares", earn a living and support their families.

That's what Opposition Leader David Thompson has called on the Arthur Administration to do as a solution to the continuing saga of vendors in Bridgetown, many of whom are upset over restrictions placed on where they can sell their foodstuffs, arts, crafts and other items to consumers.

As Thompson saw it, Barbados should consider examples set by Oxford Street in London or key cities in South Africa and Namibia where "people can come into a central area, where they can be visibly seen and where they can ply their wares, sell their items without being harassed and driven off the street".

"I believe in law and order but I also believe that space has to be created for Barbadians to live in Barbados," he added. "It doesn't make sense criminalising the activities of young men so that at the end of the day, they then cannot feed their children. Much more has to be done. It doesn't make sense hiding them away in malls, vendors malls where nobody can see them."

The Opposition Leader, who recently delivered the annual Errol Barrow Memorial lecture in New York sponsored by the Friends of Barbados DLP Association, the Democratic Labour Party's arm in the United States, listed the "the conflict" between Government and the vendors as part of what his DLP called the "unfinished business" which must be addressed as part of a campaign for economic democracy for all.

"The Government is spending millions of dollars in building these vendors malls and the vendors are standing up either outside of the malls or leasing space in the malls and letting somebody operate smaller versions of their business there; but they then try to find a location in a central area where people are passing to ply their wares," he said.

That headache was symptomatic of what he described as the "developments taking place in our country" designed to curtail the opportunities for people to earn a daily living.

Thompson said open markets existed in every major city in South Africa, where vendors "can come from rural areas and can bring art, herbs, medicines, sculptures, leather craft" to sell to consumers.