In April 2022 we brought you extensive coverage of Belize City's installation of 2 types of parking meters.
Tonight we're re-visiting the meters that were installed in BTL park under the Betta Parking Solutions brand. 10 months after their installation they're causing quite a bit of economic hardship for the vendors who rent spaces in BTL park.
Today our 7News team paid the park a visit and got to hear the gist of the complaints.
Ras Ruben, Vendor, Vegan Bites
"Up until Covid my business had grown successfully to a nice level. Covid diminished a lot of business. Fortunately, I survived through Covid. A few months after Covid and we reopened, they bring these meters out here and as my business was bouncing back and strived, these meters come tear it down again. I had a set of people that came out every day for lunch, that got diminished and now the people started to ticket even us the vendors to park out here. So they want us to pay $3 an hour to come to work and I think that is very unfair. See I got a ticket today and several of my customers got ticketed already and all the appeal that we did to people in power they ignored us and that's why we ended up calling the media, because it reached a point that text and our sentiments have been ignored and we are supposed to have dialogue with these people and there is no dialogue. So we are trying to appeal to the public to try to help us rectify this problem. Help us save our businesses, because this is having a toll on our business."
"Most of my customers come from all over Belize, so they drive come here. When they drive come here now, they get charged to even pick up a food, which is wrong. They are supposed to allow us, even the mayor had texted me last year and say that they are working it out and allocate a time for people to get 5 minutes to pick up food. That talking stayed there and never materialized out here. So a lot of our customers received tickets or they have to pay $1.50 to pick up food. Maybe, if the public call in and share their sentiments, because a lot of people got ticketed out here for picking up food. It will help to curb their thinking and come back to the table to come and address this situation."
Reporter
"We heard that during the consultations, you were particularly vocal about the idea that the vendors shouldn't have been charged. What was that like?"
Ras Ruben, Vendor, Vegan Bites
"As I said initially, we had already sat down at the table and they said that they would do something about it. Nothing had materialized. We had already voiced our concern. They know the detriment this is causing to our business and whenever they put a new agent out here to collect, it creates more problems. You see the downtown meters, they are different from this meter. The downtown meters, you could drop a quarter in there and you don't have to deal with nobody. Out here, the people that they put out here to collect this money, they have no PR training. They are driving away customers with their behaviour. They are not sensitive to a person who is coming for a small lunch hour to grab something healthy to eat from us the vendors who are suffering in this atmosphere of inflation right now."
Andrea Jones, Vendor, Candy World
"They want I pay for parking and I refused to pay for parking, because I am out here from 2014 and I think it's unfair for us as vendors to pay for parking. I open Monday to Saturday from 9am to 6pm. I mean If I have to pay that for the week, calculate that for the month. That's ridiculous."
Reporter
"When they had the conversations about these parking meters, were you told that you would have had to pay for parking?"
Andrea Jones, Vendor, Candy World
"No ma'am. We never had no vendors meeting concerning this parking. None of us agree to the parking."
Reporter
"So, no agreement. They just went ahead and did it. How does this affect you now having to find other parking spaces that are not charged?"
Andrea Jones, Vendor, Candy World
"We have to park around the lane and if they broke into the vehicle, you don't have any idea until you come off work."
Reporter
"And where did you get this ticket today? Where did you park?"
Andrea Jones, Vendor, Candy World
"I park right in front of the park where I could see my vehicle."
Reporter
"In a zone that technically should be paid."
Andrea Jones, Vendor, Candy World
"Yes ma'am."
Reporter
"So then you expected to get this ticket?"
Andrea Jones, Vendor, Candy World
"Yes ma'am. The young lady came to me and say that I have to pay for the parking and I told her I am not paying, because I am a vendor and I am out here from 2014 and its unfair. I sell candy. I am not making money like that to pay for parking every day."
Delone McKoy, Vendor, Chef Myron
"The whole reason why we are upset and complain all the time is because it hampers our business. You are charging us for customers who come here to park. We are vendors. We don't have a space to park and so we are losing both ways."
As you've heard vendors in BTL park say the presence of the parking meters had greatly diminished business in and around the park.
