So with the fishers, artisans, and residents of the Embarcadero area against the proposed new artisan market, why is the government moving forward with it?
According to the area rep, Andre Perez, it's for the good of the vendors. His argument is that the current market is cramped and dilapidated and that the artisans will make more money once relocated.
But what about the other concerns? He addressed them via Zoom today.
Andre Perez, Area Rep., Belize Rural South
"The condition which these vendors are working from is unacceptable, it is really not a place that is conducive, an environment that is conducive for good business, it is not attractive for the tourists. Certainly keeping with Plan Belize and of course the tourism product that BTB and certainly we want to enhance that. So it's that angle that we're coming, that we're embracing them, offering them an alternative, a much more viable alternative that is going to put them in a place where they're going to be making 3, 4 times more than they're making."
"You have to understand that some of them have two or three booths together, I've visited the place several times there and some of them have more than one. We have to work with everybody here, everything is limited. What we can assure, the place where they will be going, it is going to be far more comfortable than where they are at right now. And indeed it's also going to be ten but there's also a second phase, the opening of a back road in that same area in Embacadero, we also want to start filling up a road because again, the issue with traffic, so we could redirect some of the traffic to the back and that itself by the design we're looking, we will also have an available space that is also on the sunset side that perhaps could lead to there as well to open up another market there, including the fruit vendors that come once or twice a week from across the mainland."
"I fully understand an embrace the locals that are there at Embarcadero, none of them will be displaced, I can assure you of that. Certainly, we respect what they do, they're the fishermen, they're the people that go out there and the different things that they do, not only fishing, tour guides, tour operators, whatever they have over there, and the plan is also to build two docks, two piers, concrete piers, and that will also be opened for them, the fisherfolk that come in to clean their dish, that is where they're going to be docking. And it's going to belong to the town council but it is free for all, free for them to use to clean up their fish and it's actually going to be wide enough for the people to go and buy their fish."
"I don't think that this was such a big event to have consultations, because we can't be having consultations, we're not going to be getting anywhere, it will be counter productive, by the time the elections come by, we won't achieve anything because we engage in so much consultations, consultations is the name of the game of course, but this isn't such a big project, profoundly affecting the entire community."
But with the artisans and fishers refusing to move, will the Tourism Ministry pull back? We'll keep following this story.
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