Sapodilla Bay Vendors unhappy with proposed move

Dana Malcolm and Wilkie Arthur,
Staff Writers

#TurksandCaicos, March 27, 2024 – “Tourists love this beach, What is the government going to do for us, where am I going to go?”

That was the frustrated comment from one business owner at Sapodilla Bay on Tuesday, March 12 when Wilkie Arthur, Magnetic Media Court Correspondent, visited the beach to speak to the longtime vendors about orders they had received to pack up and go.  Now the Tourism Ministry says the letter was in an effort to make the vendors correct arrears on their accounts.

Only five businesses complete with their chairs and stalls are set up along the area.  Some were called in to pay outstanding fees, others say they’re paid up but received notice to vacate the beach last week.  One letter we saw was dated March 4, from the DECR.

“The Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR) writes to you on behalf of [redacted] operations on Sapodilla Bay.  The department notes that you are currently assigned to Sapodilla Bay Zone 1.  Please remove your items from the beach and occupy your assigned zone by March 6th 2023.  Please feel free to request further information as necessary,” the letter said.

The owners we spoke to say they are established businesses who are now paid up with their fees.  They are upset that after accepting their money, the government wants to put them across the street in a parking lot outside of the prime location for tourists where there are no amenities for them.

“If you’ve accepted my funds, then what are you going to do with me?  Who the heck is gonna walk across the road to bring our [wares] over here?  The purpose of this is to be on the beach,” a business owner said.  “Even if you say you’re putting us over there nothing is built there for us.”

“The letter was issued to the vendors to pressure them into updating their licenses.  Only one vendor has updated so far, we’re trying to work with them to make sure that everyone is in compliance,” said Luc Clerveaux, Director of the Department of Environment and Coastal Resources (DECR).

Vendors think it’s the villa owners nearby who want them off the beach.

“The homeowners won their case, this is the man’s property,” a vendor said referring to the houses behind the beach “and they don’t want this in front,” she explained referring to the vending stalls.

Thanks to a review of the Crown Land Ordinance it’s confirmed that the government doesn’t sell certain parts of the shoreline.  It has the power to keep back everything between the natural vegetation line to the seabed (meaning the area colloquially referred to as the ‘beach’) for the people.

Despite this, vendors are convinced that the letters have something to do with homeowners.  A business owner who spoke to our news team on Tuesday said she had been confronted by one villa owner who told her outright that they had paid $40,000 to have them removed and queried why their stalls were still up.

Some also say they’ve been given the runaround when they try to pay their fees for their stalls.

When we spoke to Josephine Connolly, Minister of Tourism, she said she was in the middle of trying to sort out the issue stressing that she was determined to get to the bottom of it.

Connolly said she had heard the rumours and was investigating within her team.  The minister explained that some had not paid their fees, and had received a “strong letter”

”There seems to be a story about who’s sent home, we haven’t sent anybody home.  Vendors were supposed to go in and pay and bring their licenses up to date.  The problem was the license.”

For now, none of the vendors have vacated the spot and are anxiously waiting to hear their fate.