By KEILE CAMPBELL

Tribune Staff Reporter

kcampbell@tribunemedia.net

LOOTERS descended on Arawak Cay hours after a fire reduced six stalls to rubble, stripping fire victims of what little could be saved from one of the country’s busiest tourist hubs.

Rodney Russell, president of the Arawak Cay Conch, Fish, Vegetable and Food Vendors Association, said the stalls destroyed in Sunday’s blaze were targeted early yesterday morning, with thieves making off with several of his belongings.

“After salvaging most of the stuff that I could’ve salvaged, I secured [them] in an area of my place and when I came this morning, the place was broken into and a lot of my goods were gone,” Mr Russell, owner of Red Snapper, said.

He said stolen items included a microwave, alcohol, air fryers, a water heater, pots and utensils. “Anything they could’ve carried –– fishing rods, personal items like chains, shades, hats, knives, my big knives that I used to cut up conch with, all of that is stuff they carried,” he said. “They gone.”

When he called police to investigate, he said “no police officer came to assist”.

Goldie’s Conch House manager Kenya Mitchell, whose restaurant was among those destroyed, said she also witnessed looting early Monday morning. “They took this opportunity of destruction and devastation and they capitalised on it,” she said. “You have those people. It was really sad to see.”

She initially thought the looters were part of the cleanup crew but soon realised otherwise and contacted an Arawak Cay association official, who removed them from the site.

“It just was crazy,” she said. “I can't imagine the mindset of someone who would steal from people who have already lost so much –– kicking someone when they are down. These people have no shame. I would say to these looters, have a heart for the people who are already suffering. How much do you want to take from them?"

Despite the setback, Mr Russell said “tremendous” progress had been made in clearing the site and preparing for reconstruction. BPL crews were already assessing how to restore power, and another vendor told The Tribune they had been advised electricity could be back by day’s end.

Ms Mitchell praised the government for a “speedy” cleanup that allowed vendors to properly assess the damage and determine their next steps.

Mr Russell said none of the affected stalls carried insurance, noting this was common at Arawak Cay because the tightly packed structures violate building code requirements.

Trudy Johnson, owner of Trudy’s Bar and Grill, whose stall barely escaped the fire, said she had previously tried to obtain insurance but was told the structures did not meet requirements — a decision she understood. “We don’t have a sprinkler system, we don’t have fire hydrants, but you can’t blame the insurance companies. That’s something we have to work on as an association,” she said.

Asked whether it was appropriate to discuss building code issues right now, she pushed back. “If it was stone, it would catch, maybe not as much and not as fast, but everyone’s got something to say and I can’t lose energy on that and I won’t,” she said. “People are gonna talk and they gonna speculate, they gonna say stuff and I can’t think about that. I won’t. I’m not that kind of person.”

Across the street, Joey’s Restaurant and Lounge owner Dario Williams said watching the fire unfold left him “truly devastated,” describing the scene as a “bad nightmare” that still felt unreal the next morning. He said the wind drove flames swiftly down the western line of wooden stalls and that “if the wind was blowing any other direction” the loss might have been “even worse”.

Mr Williams said the disaster exposed the longstanding crisis of vendors investing heavily in businesses that cannot be insured. “A lot of vendors have invested so much money into their business,” he said. “To see a guy that invested millions of dollars in his business, and you cannot get any insurance, it could have been me.”

He said operators understood the hazard and “logically” could not fault insurers for rejecting coverage. Still, he stressed the financial danger was overwhelming and said some form of intervention was needed so vendors could “go home and rest” knowing they had at least partial protection if disaster struck.

He added that owners were willing to meet new infrastructure or building standards but needed a path to insurance to safeguard their livelihoods and the families who rely on them.