by Devonne Cornelius
St. Kitts and Nevis (WINN): Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Mr. Ron Dublin-Collins said Food truck operators are expected to occupy the new space north of Independence Square by Monday, October 04.
Speaking at the Prime Minister’s press conference on Tuesday, the senior agriculture official said “by Monday we hope to have an official start of operations in that area,” adding that “the work is now complete and this week we will see the setting up of the site in terms of the placement of the trucks in the area”.
He explained that “the work was quite extensive and we have seen the collaboration between a few [government] ministries to make this possible”.
Repairing the side walls, fumigation of the area, cutting and trimming of the existing tree, installation of a waste management system, construction of bathroom facilities, and the laying of gravel is complete and the area is designed to accommodate eight food truck operators. Mr. Dublin-Collins further indicated that a 1,500 gallon underground tank was installed and security is also being addressed for the area.
“While we see an increase interest in the area, the idea was to provide for those who were in the area at the time when the decision was made to move the vendors from the [Independence] Square,” said Mr. Dublin-Collins.
In mid July of this year, people across St. Kitts and Nevis, particularly small businesses, took to social media to air their grievances with the action taken by the government to have food vendors and mobile businesses immediately halt operations in and around Basseterre, St. Kitts.
