Norman Grindley/Staff Photographer
Arthur 'Bunny' Robinson, one of the vendors at the National Stadium who is complaining about slow sales.Charmaine Austin, Staff Reporter
Vendors at the National Stadium complex are going nuts over a serious decline in sales caused, they say, by the new arrangements made by the committee overseeing them for the IAAF/Coca Cola World Junior Championships that is currently under way.
They are particularly upset that they have been placed in what they described as an obscure location, where spectators will not readily find them.
The vendors, 25 in all, are located to the right of the National Arena under 10 tents draped with Coca Cola banners.
"Not even the peanut man dem allowed inside there," said Arthur Robinson, better known as 'Bunny' to many sports fans.
Robinson has been peddling sweets, cigarettes, peanuts and other forms of snacks at the facility since 1964, but this, he said, "was not even a consideration by dem people deh. Nothing nah gwaan yah so. Imagine, fi di day mi mek only $120 for four pack a nuts and I here trying to hustle cause my yout have fi go Wolmer's September and the other one haffi go Charlie Smith. Tell me what ah mus do?" he asked.
Robinson confided that he made as much as $9,000 at a Reggae Boyz football match or figures close to that amount, but since the Championships started on Monday, has not been able to reach $1,500.
"If dem even put me in a likkle corner near enough wid mi box and seh don't move I'll obey. I would be grateful for that. Nobody caan si wi ova yah so. Nutt'n nah gwaan fi wi. Wi caan even move too far from yah so," he said.
Said Michael Hemmings, another vendor who has been dispensing his wares at the Stadium for over 20 years: "Is only the rich people dem cater for who can afford McDonald's and Island Grill and di odda tings dem weh dem a sell inside deh. I have my ISSA (Inter-Secondary Schools Sports Association) ID from 1991 and not even dat dem nuh look pon. Mi deh yah from morning an is only $10 worth a goods mi sell," he said.
Hemmings sells juice and natural spring water and the fact that he is "forced" to sell only Dasani (bottled water manufactured in Trinidad and Tobago), Coca Cola, Sprite and Fanta sodas also irk him.
"Mi can't even sell mi box juice dem and ting. It hurt me star. I have the juice dem store from Monday inna di igloo and ah borrow mi haffi borrow money fi buy ice cause nutt'n nah gwaan yah so," he said.
Suzette Martin was most vocal, particularly in defence of the $500 the vendors have to pay for each of the 10 stalls on a daily basis.
Rice and peas, brown-stewed chicken and curried goat simmered in pots behind her but was again wasted or eaten by family, friends and dogs because of the lack of sale.
"Mi even buy two dozen bun and si dem deh same way. We can't even afford the $500 a day time. Two and three of us have to bungle underneath a stall to mek up the money," she said.
Even Delores Blake and Cecil Riley, who many know for their boiled corn, soup and 'sky juice' despite their over 20 years at the venue, were able to count change at the end of the day.
"They came to collect but we couldn't even pay them because we don't make anything from the week start. They didn't say anything because dem could see that it was slow but we hope for better luck weekend," Riley said.
Robinson and his counterparts are armed with their food handler's permit, waiting for word regarding a possible re-location.
"We would love to go where the fans can see us. Not inside, but close enough," he said.
