The street vendors are being forced out of a livelihood by teachers and cleaners doing side business of selling snacks inside the schools and thereby depriving the vendors of earning a honest living. The opposition in the past urged street protest when livelihood was threatened by hikes in electrical rates. Should the school be burnt in protest?
Vendors at Amelia’s Ward Primary face stiff competition from teachers
Written by Shirley Thomas Thursday, 25 October 2012 21:58 LEGITIMATE food vendors, plying their trade outside the Amelia’s Ward Primary School at Linden, claim they are currently facing stiff competition from unauthorized persons now attempting to break their monopoly by selling snacks at the school. This newspaper was informed that over the last 18 months or so, about seven food vendors operating from across the road, opposite the school, have been selling snacks and lunches to school children and in some cases teachers, who willingly support their businesses.
Initially, things went well, they claim, and even though they were operating on a small scale, what their activity yielded was able to augment their overall domestic earnings.
Mindful about operating within the law, they approached the Linden Town Council and were granted permission to set up the stands. They were required to subject themselves to tests for food handlers’ certificates, and did so. The vendors claim they now all have food handlers’ certificates and continue to operate within the Council’s by-laws.
However, the complainants say, things took a turn after cleaners at the school, and some teachers (whose names they did not give), allegedly started selling snacks on the school premises. Their sales dropped dramatically.
The vendors, most of whom have children to provide for, and otherwise lack the wherewithal to do so, are concerned about this new development, and are now calling on their rivals in the business, to remember that they have a duty to ‘live and let others live’.
“We are disappointed that teachers and cleaners would act in this manner,” the food vendors say, “especially knowing that they are employed and have an assured income at the end of the month. If they want to say that they are finding it hard to make ends meet, then what about us? They ought to have a heart and live and let others live.”
When contacted, a source at the Department of Education said that this situation was never brought to their attention. She said what she recalls, is that some cleaners would, from time to time, take snacks to sell to the children, albeit on a small scale. She said she was not aware there were teachers involved in the practice too. Further, she said, no one has been observed selling food or snacks during school hours, nor having things on display.
While declining to give an official comment, on the grounds of not having sufficient information, the official has promised to look into this situation soonest.
