Tonight, the food vendors and taxi operators based around the Battlefield Park are preparing to move their operation from that area – but they aren't doing it willingly. That's because the Belize City Council has issued them with notice that they must vacate by Friday.
And as you would imagine, this notice affects their businesses greatly because of proximity to the downtown area, and because their regular customers won't necessarily follow them to their new location.
These vendors are very angry with this decision, but need assistance from the council in finding a new location for their businesses. As a result, they didn't particularly want to speak freely, for fear of victimization. We did, however, manage to speak to one vendor about how it will affect her:
Ketty Bernard - Concerned Vendor
"For the others, I can't speak for them. You've got to go and speak to them, but for me, I'm looking out for me. I really need a spot to sell my food. This is my living; if I don't sell my food, I cannot eat. I cannot pay my bills. So, I need help. I can ask them if they can find a spot to put us. I've heard that they plan to put us in the park over on that far corner. I think that that area is far out of the way from the busy part of the city. This is the area where most of my customers come; they tell me that they only get half an hour to eat. If we go somewhere far, how can we serve them? How can we make our money? I really need a spot out here. This is where my customers are; I can't really go anywhere else. When you move and go somewhere else, it's hard to get back your customers to survive. These boots are put here, but if you noticed, nobody is in there because their customers don't come to buy. So, they have to go and find a different location. I am not speaking out anything bad; I am just saying that I need help, and I need for them to find a spot to put us. They said that tomorrow, they will give me an answer. So, tomorrow, I will know if I have a spot out here or not."
We attempted to get comment from the Council's PR Officer, Kenny Morgan, but he was unavailable.
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