An opening ceremony for the new San Pedro Artisan Market was held today and the Minister of Tourism was there to cut the ribbon and place his seal of accomplishment on the project.
2 years ago when the project was first proposed the vendors protested against it, and today we found out for ourselves whether it proved to be a success or not. Jomarie Lanza reports.
It's a project that faced much pushback during the planning stage, but the community of San Pedro and its artisans have come to embrace the new San Pedro Artisan Market - now that it's up and functioning. Today was the ribbon cutting for the new market, a project taken up by the Belize Tourism Board, investing up to $750,000 to bring the idea to life.
The area representative was beaming with pride today. He told us that they have come a long way in making history. He calls the Artisan market a first of its kind.
Andre Perez, Area Representative, Belize Rural South
"I remember, and I recall we had some pushback especially from the neighbors around claiming that their view had been robbed and more to, I think more public came around but in the end they began to see that this is taking up shape and it is very much organized and already I have seen one of the neighbors already has invited some other people to set up their tables on the other side of the street by their property so that is a sign that they are okay with it but it is all as usual, in the beginning we reach out to people who are not happy with it but in the end we as a government and we as a community as the area representative we have to move forward and start to develop. We do try to consult with everyone but we cannot please everyone."
But one Artisan was pleased with the end product of the project. He not only has the space to showcase his products but is also assured that they will stay dry and intact.
Ernesto Alvarez, E & A Wood Carvings
"Everything is growth you know if you look at it as growing a business and wanting to expand and be better yourself you have to step up or else you will get left behind, this is a part of growth and you have to adapt. We don't have to worry about the weather or the rain and elements the harass us and with this we will just start to put in shelves like today is the first day and we will start to put our shelves and start to uplift ourselves little bit by little bit. So I see a lot of value in the profit in it, but the part that profits us the most is the foot road and for people to find us."
But this is only the beginning of a transformative venture, Minister of Tourism Anthony Mahler told us that they plan to do more infrastructural work within the area, including the construction of a boardwalk, which is the bow that will really tie this whole initiative together.
Anthony Mahler, Minister of Tourism
"This is just another project that we have had in our plans and it is finally been inaugurated today so all of these things are community based tourism so if you see mostly small type of artisan shops are in here so it is an artisan area and we want to have some night markets and entertainment and food and some energy in this area if you came here maybe a year ago you would find a decrepit piece of real estate and now it has been enhanced tremendously. And we have a lot more work to do I think another component of this phase of the project is building out a dock whereby you can remove all of these smaller docks that are here and everybody will get their space."
"They are already starting to do some business and that is what we want to ensure that the smaller folks who have investments in this industry get a fair chance of making a decent living for themselves and their families."
