Assisting marketplace vendors displaced by reconstruction works with acquiring point-of-sale (POS) machines (see related story) makes all the sense in the world. Especially tourists nowadays prefer to purchase goods using cards rather than cash.
Banks providing such could significantly help the vendors increase their chances of sales during the 2025-2026 high season. With all the recent talk of financial inclusion this seems like a logical step.
Perhaps related efforts to introduce a basic local bank account can play a role. While that already was done in monetary union partner Curaçao, the number of applicants there has been disappointing so far, apparently because many of those targetted apparently prefer to continue working with cash only.
For the vendors, it would nevertheless be a major achievement also because of the lack of pedestrians in their current temporary locations, highlighting the need for more direct access to ensure not being overlooked by potential customers. They want to ensure guests have sufficient time to visit them.
Minister of Tourism, Economic Affairs, Transport and Telecommunication (TEATT) Grisha Heyliger-Marten told Parliament more foot traffic to their area would come with a public-private partnership initiative known as the “The Stop & Shop” programme, but it could not proceed this year due to a lack of funding.
Fact is that the actual building of a new structure at the Philipsburg Marketplace has not even started yet, as reported in Tuesday’s edition of this newspaper. Although Heyliger-Marten said the project is on track procedurally, she could give neither a starting nor a completion date.
Under the circumstances, the 33 displaced vendors will get their annual fees of 1,200 Caribbean guilders waived retroactively. Most did not make their Cg. 100 monthly contributions anyway since they were forced to move.
Based on an anticipated three-year construction period the loss of revenues will total approximately Cg. 118,800. That’s a relatively small price to pay for government, which put them in this position through no fault of their own.
It’s hardly enough though, so anything that can still be done to alleviate their burden is indeed very welcome.
