By RICARDO WELLS 

Tribune Staff Reporter

rwells@tribunemedia.net

THE government’s plan to overhaul Arawak Cay and Junkanoo Beach was yesterday met with some concern, as vendors and operators questioned the project’s impact on businesses and timeframe — key details that were left out of Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ budget contribution on Wednesday.

A sweep of the area by The Tribune yesterday uncovered fear, mistrust and serious scepticism along with some exuberance over the project.

At the root of most of the concerns mentioned was the lack of communication between the various vendors and ownership groups, and the government agencies given the management of Arawak Cay and Junkanoo Beach.

According to the plans put forth by Dr Minnis, the area will be converted into the “Nassau Entertainment District”, with Bahamian businesses benefiting from tax-free zoning.

Sources on Wednesday told The Tribune these plans are still in the “infancy stage”.

Rodney “Snapper” Russell, president of the Arawak Cay Conch, Fish and Food Vendors Association, dubbed the plans “a fresh coat of paint” being slapped on an abandoned house.

“The issues plaguing Arawak Cay have been in existence since 2003, but we want to act as if this is going to fix it all,” he said. “Vendors are struggling, owners are struggling. It is hard to make it here… again no disrespect to the prime minister, but the advice that you received and the information that went into what you have proposed is absent of the input of the persons that work out here and survive because of these businesses here.”

According to Mr Russell, owners and vendors have struggled to maintain their businesses due to what he termed, a “deliberate push” to keep customers, visitors and Bahamians alike, off Arawak Cay and the Fish Fry.

“To this date, we have the closure of Arawak Cay on set days without explanation. We in the association have done what we can to reach out to the persons responsible and we’ve been given no answers. We’ve spoken to minister after minister after minister —no answer, but we turn on the prime minister yesterday and we are hearing plans to develop this property,” he told The Tribune.

“Why have the entrances to Arawak Cay being blocked off three, four days a week? Why are our customers being turned away almost daily by the closed gates and dozens of officers that flood the this area when nothing is happening, but are relatively missing when problems do arise?

“It’s as if the police and the powers that be are trying to steer money away from Arawak Cay and use the ‘security is the problem’ argument to keep people away.

“They paint the picture that Arawak Cay is this run down, high crime area that is scaring the tourists, but we in the association have been trying for years to meet with the powers-that-be to make the necessary changes.

“All of that and still nothing has been done to fix the things we have been raising,” he claimed. “But we turn on the prime minister yesterday and we hear about these plans the prime minister has. Again, who is advising the prime minister?”

Mr Russell said no matter what Dr Minnis has said, Arawak Cay and Junkanoo Beach cannot flourish if the owners and vendors are unable to sell their products.

“When you hinder the business people here, you stifle the financial gains of a huge section of this country. Remember now, there is a trickle down, so when you stop us, you stop the money we pour into the conch and fishermen that go out daily, the liquor merchants Over-the-Hill in Bain and Grants Town, the fruit and vegetable lady that buys in bulk and adds her little dollar or two on to charge us — you stop all of that when you stop us.

“It appears to me that Arawak Cay is being punished on all sides for having true entrepreneurial spirit in this country,” he asserted. “We are a culture. When people think of this property and prosperity, they don’t think about the vendors and everything that we’ve put into this. We’ve poured our life into these businesses from this place was nothing, guiding it into what you see today.”

He added: “Now, you have persons that are trying to come in do what they can to push us out, kill our business and do what they want to do. Arawak Cay is the last centre on Bay Street for black owned businessmen trying to cut it in the tourism sector to make it.

“When those big chains along West Bay Street having their dollar day and whatever, the entire street is blocked up and traffic is at a standstill… no police in sight to say nothing, move nothing or talk about what crime could happen in a place like that. Make your way a little further west and see some people here enjoying themselves. . .gates closed and police everywhere in all the stalls moving people along. Then when you call them about actual crime, none nowhere, sad,” Mr Russell insisted.

Ultimately, Mr Russell said he knows the nation’s leader meant well with his announcement, but laid blame for the crisis at the feet of those advising the man, he said, he still looks at as one of his favourite customers.

“I remember when he used to come in here and eat at that table,” Mr Russell told The Tribune about Dr Minnis. “… But we need to sit down and talk. I know you want to paint up the house and you want it look good, you want aesthetics fine, but talk to us. The vendors and owners that call this place home, we can tell you how the roof is leaking and what parts of the house is flooding. The person walking by every couple of days can’t tell you what is going on inside this house if they choose to never come inside.

“Again, Mr Prime Minister, we mean no disrespect. Please, we want to work hand in hand with you to make this a place that the world can come to and enjoy, but it has to be done in the way where we keep the people involved.

“Don’t let them tell you what to do if they ain’t speak to us,” Mr Russell said.

The Tribune also spoke with other area stakeholders, including Lionel Douglas, manager of Frankie Gone Bananas; Jason Burrows, owner of Deep Creek Restaurant; Aniel Roker, marketing manager at Twin Brothers; Pauline Rahming, operator of Oh Andros and Lilian Larimore Smith, operator of Candies and vice president of Arawak Cay Conch, Fish and Food Vendors Association.

Each raved about the possibilities relative to the prime minister’s proposal for the area and said they would withhold judgment until the proposal moves into the implementation phase.

“We want more for our country, we want more for Arawak Cay but we know when politics involved, mouth can say anything,” said Mr Burrows. “I hope the prime minister means what he said. If he does, trust me, we all would be behind him with this.”

Dr Minnis said his administration is proposing the redevelopment of the area from Fish Fry to Junkanoo Beach, Long Wharf with a new entertainment area for Nassau that will “result in scores of Bahamians going to the waterfront for entertainment and relaxation on a weekly basis”.

He said the new area will be zoned for major tax concessions for Bahamians and will be declared a tax-free zone like the inner city. It will also feature a sky bridge to accommodate pedestrian traffic. He said the government will hold meetings with stakeholders in the future.