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Vendors from the Drag Brothers Mall are still uncertain about their future, says custodian of the facility, Winston Scott. He made the comment following a meeting of the vendors who were displaced following a fire at the mall last week.
‘I do not think the authorities are ready to give us a time frame on when they will relocate us. We have not reached a complete understanding on the time frame that would be used from there to the Eastern Market, Charlotte Street. People are not even satisfied that they want us to go to that market,” he said.
The vendors met with officials at the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development after a fire gutted the Drag Brothers Mall at Independence Square.
The building housed approximately 26 booths with two occupants to every booth, Scott said. They have been told by the authorities that they will be relocated to Eastside Plaza on Charlotte Street.
Scott said Opposition Senator Gerald Ramdeen, an attorney, is giving the vendors legal advice. He was at their meeting with officials of the Housing Ministry.
“The lawyer is trying to establish the fact that we vendors must get a written agreement that once that building is built the people who go to the Eastside Plaza must be returned to it,” Scott said.
“The authorities are saying that they cannot give us a time frame on what will happen next. They have to go to Cabinet, they have to go to the Ministry. We have reached a point where we will hold on and see how long it will take.”
According to Scott, the displaced vendors are struggling to make ends meet.
“They cannot make any money. That is the first thing to look at. People were always scared of the Charlotte Street market. From what we know, no one has ever had a success story inside there,” he said.