N. Front Street vendors have new sidewalk
Sometimes in life, it’s the little things that count. For Belize City’s cruise tourism industry one of those little things today got a whole lot better.
Jacqueline Godwin, Reporting
Where vendors once had to dodge stinking drain water, tomorrow a new sidewalk will welcome cruise visitors to North Front Street. The twenty-five thousand dollar project is being carried out by the Belize City Council in its effort to improve conditions in the area.
Anthony Michael, Deputy Mayor, Belize City
“When we came into office about a year ago, the vendors out here were working in deplorable conditions, the drains were not properly maintained and they were working on broken pallets and stuff. And aesthetic-wise we felt that it wasn’t nice for tourism and in a larger picture for Belize City. We decided to remove the old pallets and invested some money into proper drainage and proper infrastructure within the city to make the vendors out here have a more cleaner, workable environment.”
Deputy mayor Anthony Michael says the plan is to beautify the entire area.
Anthony Michael
“We are getting some square umbrellas with different colours, which will be, after a period of time, the possession of the vendors. So they will have it out here, so the place will have different rainbow colours and stuff, but they will be working on the platform that we created.”
Calvert Quilter, Councillor, Small Business and Tourism
“It will benefit the tourism industry because the small vendors as you know it, they was working in very deplorable conditions. We sat down with them and work along with them and asked them how could we address the situation and they came up with the ideas and together collectively we decided that putting this infrastructure in place would be the best idea for them.”
Alberto Ramos is one of the twenty-three vendors who will benefit.
Alberto Ramos, Vendor
“At the moment this will assist us in a great way because this is the first time I have seen that they are people putting people first. And this is the first time I am seeing that we are contributing to the development of people because we are the local craft makers, we have the local products, and the tourists when they come to Belize that’s what they want to see, so this is great for all of us.”
Calvert Quilter
“We have designated a number for each vendor and that will be their permanent vending spot. They will be leasing it for like a year and renewal depending on their initiatives.”
The vendors pay a monthly fee of fifty dollars each to use the space.
