By DENISE MAYCOCK

Tribune Freeport Reporter

dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

ABOUT a dozen straw vendors at the International Bazaar in Freeport were displaced after their shops were destroyed by fire at the Straw Market early yesterday morning.

According to reports, the blaze started sometime around 3.30am at the rear of a building, opposite the Perfume Factory, housing several of the shops.

The Royal Bahamas Police Force Fire Division responded, extinguished the blaze and cordoned off the area to the public.

With their shops and thousands of dollars of merchandise gone, the vendors are now concerned about how they will be able to support themselves and their families.

When The Tribune arrived around noon, the building was cordoned off with yellow tape, the vendors sitting on a bench a short distance away.

Tanya Curry, the daughter of straw vendor Carol Curry, said she received a call at 3.30am about a fire at her mother’s shop.

When she and her siblings went to check, the entire building was engulfed in flames. “We thought we would be able to try to save some of the items, but by the time they reached there everything was gone,” she said.

Ms Curry said some 11 vendors had been affected by the fire. She said her mother has been a straw vendor at the International Bazaar for some 41 years.

“She has been out here all her life since she was a young girl with her mother, and took us here too,” she said.

The incident has left vendor Elizabeth Fowler very disheartened.

“I have been here since 2014 and I feel very saddened by what happened,” she said. “We just spend the last couple of dollars to fill the shop for the spring break season, and this morning when I heard the news, I could not believe it because this is how I pay my rent and I don’t know how I am going pay my rent now.”

Iram Lewis, MP for Central Grand Bahama, and parliamentary secretary in the Ministry of Works, visited the site and spoke with the vendors. He promised the government would assist them.

Ms Curry said the vendors are in need of help because they pay rent and have other financial obligations.

“He (Mr Lewis) spoke to them and reassured them he would bring help to them soon. The vendors come out here every day because this is all they have, and it is really sad and very emotional for them.

“Grand Bahama is not doing well right now, and we really need help,” she said.

Ms Curry estimates that thousands of dollars worth of merchandise has been destroyed.

In addition to sewing straw, she said that the vendors sell jewellery, bags, t-shirts, and other souvenirs.

She said the International Bazaar has changed so much in the past decade.

“The stores have all shut down, except the Straw Market. Things are so bad out here, and we are hoping that some temporary accommodations can be made so that the vendors can put up tents and tables until the building can be rebuilt,” she said.

Ms Curry is puzzled as to how the fire could have started since there is no electricity at the straw market.

Fire officials are investigating the cause of the blaze.