By ANNELIA NIXON

Tribune Business Reporter

anixon@tribunemedia.net

The RM Bailey Park and Allied Vendors Association plans to fight against fees imposed on vendors by the Bahamas Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority.

Having to pay $110 as a vendor utilising RM Bailey Park, association president Karen Brown said the fees are too high and she plans to fight to have the cost lowered. Even with the allowance of weekend vending, Ms Brown argued the fees are still excessive. Ms Brown said vendors are tasked with paying for their use of the park as well as seasonal garbage disposal and security services. She also commended the Bahamas Public Parks and Public Beaches Authority for cracking down on vendors who weren’t paying their fees.

“So everybody now has to pay amenities fees,” Ms Brown said. “So now you have the people who never used to pay, now they are beginning to make noise because they are saying, now they have to pay $110, plus whatever the fee is. Now we do security. To make it cheaper, we only pay for security during the seasons, only Christmas, because people doing bicycles and you have a lot of heavy boxes of garbage during the Christmas season. So we do the dumpster around Christmas time. We only pay for security. But now they are starting to make noise because they are feeling the pinch. But we have been feeling the pinch carrying them along for years.

“They were complaining, you know, saying that how Parks and Beaches had just gone up on the fees, and now they adding security fee. They went up on their fees. The association members. I fought for our fees to stay the same but I asked them for the weekend vending. They did grant that, but she trying to still charge us $110 for two days. And I tell her, no way. You all charge $110 for one day, or it’s up to a week, even if you do a month, that’s still only a week. So I’m in negotiations with them not to try to drop that.”

Noting that both vendors and consumers are feeling the economic “pinch”, Ms Brown said the fees are “unfair”.

“[It’s] either $110 a day or $110 a week. It doesn’t matter if it’s one day or one week,” Ms Brown said. “They are getting away. And I told the PM that fee [and] his eyes opened. Now with us in the association, when we were fined, we were paying per day according to your tent size, which was 5,7, and $8, a day, according to your tent size. You only paying for the dirt. Every time I go out there, I have to pay $100 for the guy, just to put down my pallet - every time. The ground was so terrible. So if I’m only paying for that little 20 by 20 space, or I have a 20 by 20 tent, that little 20 by 20 space, why should I pay $100 a day. Or now that they grant us the weekend thing, why should I pay $60 a day for the dirt, where I gotta pay somebody to put something on top of that so I could even walk on [it]. That’s too high. $110 is too high.

“And like, let’s say the season may run like Mother’s Day. We put probably five days. So for the non-association member, that’ll be $110. For me, it’ll be $8 per day, plus the VAT. And now we added the security fee. The security fee will waiver - depends on how much persons are coming out and how much days the season is. Easter was eight days, and Mother’s Day was five days. But I still didn’t go out until, like Friday. So although I paid for the days or whatever, you still don’t get to use all the days. And so some of the people who paying $110 only out there one or two days. And it’s not fair, but I tell them, join the association and pay the association price. But you have some who will rebel, so you all stay out there and pay that price. But that $110 is too high.

“Things are slow. Business is slower now than before. People never start shopping for Mother’s Day, until like, Friday night, Friday evening, you know, and sales pick up Saturday, and then you had some sales Sunday. But it’s not like before. Things are tough for everybody. So we feeling the pinch. The consumers feeling the pinch. Everybody feeling the pinch. So people are not shopping like that, like before. And when they come, they looking for something cheap or looking for you to give them discount. I had to discount almost every basket I sell to get a sale. So why you going to be killing vendors with the fees? It isn’t like, it’s a big function, like a fair or something what gone be bringing in one bunch of money in a day? So even now that that they grant us the permission to do the weekend vending, you could go to go out there on a Friday and Saturday and maybe not make a dollar. I had people who went out Mother’s Day, and those first few days, they didn’t make a dollar.”

Ms Brown expressed her pleasure with the authority during the Easter and Mother’s Day holidays. She said those who set up shop without proper permits were shut down and some vendors who hadn’t paid fees or didn’t have all the proper documentation, were let off with a warning.

“The person who they made pack up, actually was an association member,” Ms Brown added. “And I told them in the meeting, I don’t care if it’s an association member or a non-association member. I have some people like, I tell you on the park 80-something [years old], and if these old people could make sure that they have their business licence, their police permit, their police record, the documents that you need. If you want to sell, the first thing you need is a business licence. So how you going to be out there selling without a business licence?

“And then like, how it was Easter, Easter was a long holiday weekend. So some of them realise Parks and Beaches was closed. So they would wait. So we will have people who come and they will wait until like, close to the weekend to set up. So they thought they would have had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, to sell. And no one from Parks and Beaches would be checking. So that’s that’s what they do. They come and they sneak out, but this time they were caught, and it was about five of them, some association members and some non association members. And Scavella was happy. I told her, this is what happens when you work together.”

Regarding negotiations, Ms Brown added “I could have asked for Jesus on the cross that day and I would have gotten it.” She said the authority agreed to meet with the association at least twice per year. They agreed to weekend vending and for inspectors who conduct routine checks on the parks. They also have agreed to new policies concerning documentation.

“Documentation, you had to send in every season, two copies of passport, police record, all police permits,” Ms Brown said. “So they agreed that once you send it in once a year, they will only be requiring the police permit. But we need the police permit and the police record for the police. But Parks and Beaches will only be requiring the police record, saying that everybody police record expire different times during the six months. So that’s the only document they’ll be asking for. They did agree that they will try to get the permits out in an earlier fashion, earlier time, sign them up so we could get them to the police on time and everything will be ready.”