Fish vending row – Part of wider problem in society

29.APR.11

On Tuesday of this week, Kingstown witnessed yet another protest and demonstration; something which seems to be rather fashionable these days.{{more}} This time however, the focus was not political, but had to do with issues relating to the sale of fish along the street outside the fish market. An announcement last week from the Minister with responsibility for fisheries, Hon. Montgomery Daniel, had given notice that as of Monday, April 25, the existing law would be enforced and this practice would be prohibited.

Tuesday’s protest represented the response by fish vendors and fisherfolk who engage in this wayside selling of fish. They argue that it is a matter of earning a livelihood, pointing to inadequacies in the administrative arrangements at the Fish Market which have forced them to sell on the streets. The Ministry had given as its reasons for outlawing the practice: health and sanitation concerns, quite validly so. The Ministry had further pointed out that, at a time when official efforts are being made to try and have the ban on fish exports to the European Union revoked, there must be meticulous observation of health and sanitation standards.

The problem of roadside fish-vending is not a new one. In fact it was in order to regulate such sales and to ensure rigorous health and sanitation standards that the Fish Market was built in the first case, with Japanese assistance. The rationale was that the new market would make it unnecessary to engage in the unsightly practice of selling fish on the sidewalks and even in the street itself. No one concerned about proper sanitation would advocate selling fish in this manner. Over the years though, laxness in administering the Market and inconsistent enforcement of regulations have resulted in the old habits creeping back into practice. It becomes worse any time fish is in bountiful supply, as it is now.

So, the stage was set for some form of confrontation, as clearly, with the situation growing worse, the Government would at some stage have to take a firm stand. For their part, the vendors, primarily concerned with their livelihood, would tend to not place such a high priority on the sanitation and health aspects. Whether it is just for convenience or not, they have advanced the arguments concerning what they perceive to be deficiencies in the system, which opened up the door to chaotic vending. Their concerns must be addressed with the same urgency as the sanitation issue was handled.

The whole affair brings into focus the wider issue of unplanned, chaotic development. When it is not fish, it is vegetable market vending, or sidewalk hawking. There are serious implications in this approach for the health of the nation, orderly development and even law and order itself. The Kingstown market area best epitomises this undesirable development. Somewhere the line must be drawn, but each time any attempt is made, there is the response that “poor people have to live”. Of course that right must be respected, but it cannot be an excuse for chaos, lawlessness and permitting unsanitary practices. Some time during the last administration, Senator Julian Francis had begun spearheading a move to “clean up Kingstown”. What became of it? Did political expediency win out in the end?

These problems must be tackled with consistency. But solutions devised must also take into consideration the livelihoods of those involved. That is why dialogue is paramount and cross-party cooperation, placing the problem in its rightful national context, is so vital. We cannot play politics with our development.