The President says the organisation is displeased with the method in which the Castries Constituencies Council is handling the establishment of their new lease arrangements.

Isaac says some of the organisation’s members have signed the new agreement without fully understanding some of the terms.

In other instances, he says, vendors who are not proficient in the English language, are apprehensive about signing.

“They were just calling people in the office to sign the agreement, on the dotted line, sign here, sign there. Some vendors may not be sophisticated enough to understand what is written on these documents,” he said.

The Craft and Dry Goods Vendors Association represents vendors in the Castries Vending Arcade. SNO understands the new lease agreements forms part of the CCC’s intention to streamline revenue collection for the payment of salaries and the upkeep of the City.

Isaac says while he understands the move, a more humane enforcement measure must be implemented.

“What should have happened is that they either try to explain [the terms] to them or maybe let them have a copy and let the Association or an attorney give them a better overview of what the [document] is,” he said.

To address this, Isaac says the CCC needs to meet with the Association to discuss the terms of the lease agreements.

“So we believe that the best thing to do is to sit with the vendors association and let us look into it. The government of Saint Lucia is sitting with the various unions negotiating on behalf of workers, on employees and so on. And I think they should have some regard or some respect for the vendors and the association,” he said.