Design plans for Potter's Cay Dock stalls being revised

Thu, Dec 1st 2016, 09:38 AM

The original plans for the upgrade of vendor stalls at Potter's Cay Dock may have been too "elaborate" and had to be taken back to architects to ensure more "affordable" design and construction, Deputy Prime Minister Brave Davis told Guardian Business yesterday. However, he could not say when these new plans will come back to the vendors and their association.

The government has already spent $3.1 million of the proposed $12 million on the redesign and beautification of the foreshore, which now includes proper parking and re-routed entrance and exit ways. The final amount being invested could change once final plans are finished for the new vendor stalls.

Potter's Cay stall owners are still hoping that the closure of their businesses will come with some kind of compensation package, as they wait for their new restaurant fronts.

However, even as the stall owners wait to gain clarity on the government's timeline for the upgrading of the stalls that are, in some cases, their only source of income, they also want a clear and direct answer from government on whether or not the redevelopment will mean the end of their businesses, without compensation, for an undetermined period of time.

This paper sought to gain clarity on a paragraph in a memorandum sent to stall owners which suggested that when the government finally begins the redevelopment of the stalls at Potter's Cay Dock, the owners would not be compensated for the time that their businesses are closed.

The line in the memorandum reads: "It is important to note that these costs do not include the possibility of compensation to food vendors by the government for loss of business during construction."

Davis did not indicate whether this would be the case once construction begins on the stalls, as the government does not yet know what will be constructed.

One stall owner, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Guardian Business that he was excited about the plans for the new facilities at the dock, even after he injected a few thousand dollars into refurbishing his own stall just before the government announced its plans. However, his main concern is the effect to his livelihood when the redevelopment begins.

"To me it's a good and a bad thing that redevelopment has not started," the vendor said. "If they had started working on our stalls, Lord knows how long it would have taken them. They sent this memo around and said they would not be responsible for reimbursement during the time."

Chester Robards, Guardian Senior Reporter

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