Coney Drive Vendors are Summoned to Appear in Court
When a trio of food vendors arrived at their respective stalls on Coney Drive earlier today, they were surprised to have been met with summonses to appear before the High Court. That’s because a property owner in the immediate vicinity has lodged a claim demanding their removal from that location. The women are up in arms and say that they are being taken unfair advantage of by someone with ample means. News Five’s Isani Cayetano reports.
Isani Cayetano, Reporting
For many years, businesses on Coney Drive have enjoyed the convenience of having food vendors in close proximity. During lunch hour, employees of various organizations descend on this strip where Belizean dishes are on sale. Gayla O’Brien has been vending in the area since 2012. A few years ago, the Belize City Council relocated her and several other small business owners to this side of street where three stalls were constructed. Things were going smooth for the vendors until today when they were served with a notice from the law firm of Marin Young and Company.
Gayla O’Brien
Gayla O’Brien, Vendor
“I deh out ya da Coney Drive about eleven years. I‘ve been over this side about six years ago and I find it so very strange, I‘ve been served with a summons to move from here. I noh know weh fi seh because I hear that we‘ve been blocking the neighbor’s view and I noh sih how we di block di neighbor’s view by being here because it‘s been bout six years I‘m over this side. So if we mi di block di neighbor‘s view, I expect to get a summons like eena two weeks time and now it‘s been six years since we’ve been here.”
A claim has been filed against three vendors, including Tariffa Talbert, Evelyn Perez and Olga Arnold. Claudette Thurton has been selling next door for a few months. She, too, has been served on behalf of Ethel Thompson, the owner of the property that rents to Transparent BPO, Central Health Region and the Immigration Department.
Claudette Thurton
Claudette Thurton, Vendor
“A summons came which is for my cousin Evelyn Perez because she is the owner of the building. And it‘s just sad that, you know, they want us to move. She‘s been here like forever. She was once over the street before she came and put her building this side and they just pop up with a summons saying that they‘re claiming that we‘ve got to move.”
Isani Cayetano
“You guys are making an honest living by selling food to businesses and employees along this stretch. What‘s next for you guys?”
Claudette Thurton
“That‘s the thing, what‘s next? Like the way I see it in this country we call Belize, when it comes to poor, black people it‘s like they don‘t want to see you get ahead. They don‘t want to see you make life. The way it seems, they want us to always keep down. We are working hard.”
For restaurant owner Tiffany Cadle, Gwen’s Kitchen has been locked in a legal battle with Thompson for several years. Thompson, we understand, wants all the small businesses that are on the road reserve in front her property gone.
Tiffany Cadle
Tiffany Cadle, Proprietor, Gwen’s Kitchen
“We have been in court with the Thompsons them since, I think 2020-2021. They have brought three matters against us, one of them was dismissed, they brought that back. We are awaiting judgment and one of them, they have appealed. So we are at the Court of Appeal in relation to one of the matters. I am a bit surprised to hear that they have now tried, they are now attacking the other three smaller businesses beside me on the same grounds, the same merits of the case that they brought against Gwen‘s Kitchen, myself and my partner and my mother-in-law at the same time. In essence, they want us to move from here. That’s the basis of it. They don‘t want us to do business out here. Everybody would know that the other three businesses besides Gwen‘s Kitchen have been out here long before Gwen‘s Kitchen. In total, these ladies have been out here eleven years, selling food first across the street and then later on, on the side of the road. So they‘ve been on this side of the road at least six years they’ve been here.”
It’s a difficult situation. These women do not have the financial resources to wage a legal defense against Thompson. Despite the fact that Cadle is an attorney, she is unable to assist as her cases are still before the courts.
Tiffany Cadle
“The one that is being brought against the other three business ladies out here is a constitutional claim similar to the one that they are now appealing against me. So it‘s similar, everything is almost identical in both claims. Looking at it, they should have just sued them, sued all of us together in the beginning that way we could have probably helped them out in terms of representation. But now, being the fact that I am in court fighting for my own cause, I mean I am an attorney but I can’t offer much help to them because I have my own fight against these individuals.”
The Belize City Council is also being taken to court as a defendant in respect of this matter. It was through the efforts of the mayor and his team at City Hall that the smaller vendors were able to secure a permanent location on Coney Drive. For Gayla O’Brien, her livelihood is under direct threat.
Gayla O’Brien
“A business like this which is making four to five hundred dollars sometimes a day, sometimes you leave from here and you try to make a two hundred. Yoh fight, so much backbiters, so much problem. This is no kind of business fi nobody want us to move, to the millions and billions of dollars that my neighbor own, weh she have and weh we have. We have nothing to she. We da like wahn dog crumbs to weh she have. So this is so terrible and we need somebody to stand up for us out here.”
Isani Cayetano for News Five.
