By Erica James-King, Staff Reporter
Winsome Thompson, a vendor at the Harbour Street Craft Market in St. James, makes a point to Superintendent Newton Amos, during a demonstration in that parish yesterday. Craft vendors say they have been losing out on business because of the unfair trade practices of larger establishments. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE DISCONTENT by craft traders over negligible sales, spilled over into the streets of Montego Bay, St. James yesterday, as scores of them converged near the entrance to the cruise ship terminal in a peaceful demonstration.
Armed with placards, the protesters chanted and shouted their demands for a bigger share of the tourism pie. They charged that for several weeks now, the tour buses have been ignoring the craft markets, as they shuttle tourists from the cruise ships to the Inbond shops in Montego Bay.
"We are tired of being sidelined by the tour operators and other key persons in the industry, we are just not getting any business," lamented a disgruntled Melody Haughton, president of the Harbour Street Craft Vendors Association. "October is when the cruise ship season starts in earnest and we are not going to sit back and not get any sales. We will protest as long as it takes to get sales."
Under the watchful eyes of the police, who maintained a strong presence at the scene of the demonstration, the vendors vowed to implement other activities to disrupt the tourism sector over the coming weeks, if their demands are not met. The irate craft traders contended that during the last four months, promises from the Jamaica Hotel and Tourist Association, Inbond merchants, and the Montego Bay Cruise Ship Committee to meet with them, have failed to bear fruit.
