7 News Belize

Mayor Got Them On The Move
posted (January 8, 2018)
Raymond Jones who is also known as Napthy is a well-known musician and peace advocate in the city. Jones and his wife, Fahima have led the initiative called "Drums, not guns." They also own a craft shop at the bridge foot. It is a popular tourist attraction but now Jones and his wife are in a dilemma.

They have to move from the bridge foot because that area is under construction by the City Council. The City Council asked them and other vendors to evacuate the premise in order to keep them safe from any accidents. But the couple now has nowhere to set up shop.

They came to speak to us about their concerns today.

Violet Barnett, Owner of Belize African Connection & Drums Not Guns
"We were told that they are taking this structure down or they are renovating it and we will not be able to be out there at the time they are doing that because maybe something might fall on you. The point is that we are paid up with our trade license and everything so we need somewhere we can go to make money until the structure is finished and we can go back."

Sahar Vasquez, reporter
"So you met with the City Council today right? Are they coming up with a solution to get you somewhere else?"

Violet Barnett
"There are a lot of possibilities but right now everything is like we have to wait. But you can't tell you belly we have to wait because we have to eat every day, pay our bills and provide for ourselves just like anybody else and this is our job. This is how we have been making our money for the past 20 years."

Sahar Vasquez
"Did you have any pre-warning? Like a month before?"

Violet Barnett
"Well, they came two weeks ago and I was not there but my husband signed a document with the City Council and so we had to get out by the 31st of December."

Sahar Vasquez
"But you guys technically consented to them?"

Violet Barnett
"Yea because we did not want to seem like the only person not agreeing so we complied. We are good citizens. We don't want to break any laws. We don't want any problems. We just want everything to go smoothly."

After speaking to Jones and his wife we contacted the Belize City Council and they informed us that the new City Hall building is going in that location. They are working with Jones and other vendors. They have asked the vendors the come up with ideas of other places they could sell and present it to the council who will check on the availability of the area.

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