By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

The Bay Street Straw Market is set to receive a $96,250 cooling system to address complaints that it is too hot for vendors and consumers alike, its governing authority revealed yesterday.

Carolyn Bowe, the Straw Market Authority’s managing director, agreed with vendors that the location suffers from “unbearable” heat and wants to ensure they and visitors are comfortable. Acknowledging that installing a cooling system is a priority, she confirmed that funds totaling $96,250 for an air conditioning system have been approved.

“The Ministry of Finance has already approved a cooling system for the Straw Market,” Ms Bowe said. “I was hoping, really, the work would have started from July 1. But I’ve spoken with the [Ministry of Works].

“She came down from the Ministry of Works. She came down. She did her assessment, and we are just waiting now. But the money has already been approved by the Ministry of Finance. Some $96,250, that’s the cost of the cooling system for the Straw Market. It’s an air conditioning system.

“The cooling system is our priority right now. We need to make sure our visitors and our vendors are comfortable. One or two occasions, I have to go down there, it’s very hot. It’s very hot, and it can be unbearable at times. But we are doing our best because we need to make sure that the vendors are comfortable.”

Ms Bowe also addressed the rotation system that some vendors have been pushing for. She explained that when she first took a position at the Straw Market in 2023, she met such a system in place following the COVID-19 pandemic but, after a survey was completed, most vendors voted for the market to open fully so they could come and go on any day they pleased.

“Under the rotation period they only could have come in on selected days.The group was ‘A’ and then there was a ‘B’ group. So it rotated like, if you come for four days, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and then I’ll come Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday,” Ms Bowe said.

“And it was then discovered that it was not being evenly spread. And even though you say to me, who’s in group A, that you’re not to come in, you’re only to come in on your assigned days. So what we found out [was] that vendors were coming in, even when they’re not assigned to come in. And so it was creating a problem. Some of the vendors complained, and some just sat in their corners and didn’t say anything.

“Like I said, we did a survey, and the situation went as far as the then-minister, Alfred Sears. And he said, after the survey was done and there was voting, most of the vendors agreed that they would go to their seven daysbecause the policy said the market opens up seven days a week.”

Ms Bowe also clarified that, during the rotation period, straw vendors could not be charged rent. “And the basis behind the rotation period, while they were on the rotation, we couldn’t charge them rent,” she said. “Now some of the things the vendors are not saying. On the rotation period, we could not charge them rent.

“And so after it went as far as the minister, he said:’No, no, no.’ To avoid the confusion, we would open up the market on March 25. And so we then said to the vendors, ‘Listen, you can come in on your selected days, however you choose to come in. But you can come in when you want to’. And so that was it for the rotation period. And you find some of the vendors who work closely together, they are still on the rotation period. So it’s a discretionary thing.”

Vendors have argued that stall placement is a contributing factor in their financial struggles. They claimed that tourists do not venture deep into the market and, instead, mostly patronise stalls on the outskirts which are more visible.

While this is the reason some vendors advocate for the rotation systems, Ms Bowe said it is unlikely to be reinstated. She added that it is her “personal view that all of the vendors in here are making money”.

“When a vendor could throw $50 a day asue, $100 a day asue, $200 a day asue, and you say you’re not making any money.... What I found is that the vendors who are complaining, they have their priorities all mixed up, because if you speak to any other vendor in here, they will tell you money is making,” Ms Bowe added.

“You have that crew who would tell you they’re not making any money. But I’ve been taught as a child, if you make $2 you have to learn to live within that $2. Back then their credit limit was $200. If you go over that $200 your stall was automatically closed.

“We reduced it from $200 to $100, and you have a leverage. We will allow you to go upward to $150 before we decide to close your shop. Just to make it easy for those who are complaining that they’re not making any money.”

Ms Bowe also shut down allegations of the restroom facilities being neglected in terms of upkeep. Noting that the Straw Market’s restroom is the only public lavatory in the downtown area, she added that it is “properly maintained” and undergoing upgrades.

“Our bathrooms are properly maintained. We’re doing upgrades every day. We’ve just last week had a plumber came in just to flush out the system, to snake out the system. We’re now getting ready to paint the inside of the bathrooms,” she added.

“Under the former administration the hand washing soap was placed in a cup on the counter in the bathroom. We’ve installed soap dispensers in every bathroom, and they are filled every day. Our bathrooms are checked every 15 minutes. I myself, as a managing director, I would walk down and walk through the bathroom myself.”

She also clarified that the Straw Market Authority does not provide sanitary napkins for those who use the restroom. However, they do provide a bin for them. Ms Bowe said her goal is to “leave them in a much better position than I met them in.” She added that the Authority is doing its best and has maintained a standard.

“We’re doing our best,” Ms Bowe said. “There is a standard that I maintained since coming here. I’ve been in law enforcement for 40-plus years. I retired as an assistant commissioner of police in charge of all of the Family Islands except Freeport, Abaco and Bimini. And when I came here, I told them, when I leave this place, I want to leave them in a much better position than I met them in. And that’s my focus.

“Of course, in life today, you will have the naysayers, right, but at the end of the day, as long as you remain focused, do exactly what you’re supposed to do... We have a minister who sees the Straw Market as his priority. And I can tell you, when he did his walk through, he pointed out certain things that he wanted done. He wanted change.

“We have an excellent partnership with the Nassau Cruise Port. They have furnished us with new signs, new benches, we have four Junkanoo dolls. We have two at the Bay Street entrance, and two at the cruise port entrance. They are our main attraction. They need some repairs now because, you know, from the rain and the wind and all of that, they a little tattered and torn.”