President of the Arawak Cay Conch, Fish, Vegetable and Food Vendors Association (ACVA), Lillian Laramore-Smith, said yesterday that only one vendor has acquired all of the approvals necessary to rebuild following the November 2025 fire at Arawak Cay.
Laramore-Smith told Guardian Business that part of the hold up was that the vendors did not have valid leases from the Ministry of Agriculture to rebuild.
She said: “They had put a stop in the beginning when they first started constructions. One or two persons started, but they had put a stop to it,” she said. “But since then, Goldie’s owner Kirkwood “Goldie” Evan is the only person who went and acquired all of the documents necessary to build, and so he is ready. He has the documents and the go-ahead.
“I’m in negotiations now with Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources (MAMR) in reference to the financial agreement that was supposed to be signed on Monday past. After reading it, glancing over it, I felt like some things in there needed to change and so I asked for a copy of it, and I’ve given that copy to the Trade Union Congress (TUC), who we are affiliate members of.
“I’m about to see Mr. [Melvin] Adderley today, who is the manager of Arawak Cay, to present him with a letter in reference to him giving us a copy of the new lease that they say they have.
She continued: “They want us to sign this agreement, which refers to the to the new leases. And so, I’m asking by letter today for a copy of the new lease agreement, so that I can take it to [TUC President] Obie Ferguson. That agreement is what I think we’re at a standstill for. Goldie’s had already went in and put down some thousands of dollars towards his lease.”
The original lease agreement for the Arawak Cay vendors, which was originally signed in 2000 and then renewed in 2010, was supposed to expire in 2020, but was given an extension of two years. The vendors now need new leases in order to coordinate the reconstruction of the Fish Fry in conjunction with the MAMR.
The ACVA is no longer an employer association, but has been a employee union as of 2021, something Laramore-Smith said would give the vendors better bargaining and negotiating power when lobbying for initiatives at the Fish Fry.
Many of the vendors, including Laramore-Smith, owe the Department of Lands and Surveys (DLS), rent money for using their respective spaces at Arawak Cay. “They have offered us to pay five percent on the total payment. But a lot of things need to be negotiated in reference to that,” she said.
