Upon entering Port of Spain and starting at the bottom of George Street, the first thing that salutes your eyes are vendors. Not vendors on the side of the road pedaling small nick knacks and what not but full market produce on the streets, as can be seen from the above picture. Little tables are built and their goods placed on it to showcase them to potential buyers. The sidewalk is sometimes also used as an extension of the tables on the street (the pumpkin to the top left of the picture above in the trolley next to the man in purple). Also from this picture it can be seen that the vendors only occupy the left side of the road.
This is a scene which is unique to the city of Port of Spain and is part of the urban culture of this place. It is also right smack in your face the extension of micro-entrepreneurship from the informal sector to the formal sector at work.
The informal sector is as stated from the Global Development Research Centre,
"The
informal sector covers a wide range of labor market activities that
combine two groups of different nature. On the one hand, the informal
sector is formed by the coping behavior of individuals and families in
economic environment where earning opportunities are scarce. On the
other hand, the informal sector is a product of rational behavior of
entrepreneurs that desire to escape state regulations."
This photo was taken on a Saturday, and in the island of Trinidad, for the majority of people the weekend is their "rest or market day". Another thought comes to mind that, these people engaging in this informal sector activity could very well also be a part of the the formal sector during the week (Monday to Friday).
Unfortunately for these vendors the Mayor of Port of Spain, Louis Lee Sing has different plans for them concerning their vending on the streets. A plan has been put in place where the vendors could be placed in eight by ten booths on lower Charlotte
Street, George Street, Henry Street and Chacon Street as over 200,000
people leave City Gate and pass through those areas. There was an uproar from the vendors stating that their lively hood was being ruined and those areas are devoid of people. It really does look quite lonely in the above picture.
References
"The Informal Sector," The Global Development Research Center, last Modified January 4,2014. http://www.gdrc.org/informal/1-is_concept.html
Darcel Choy, "City vendors in uproar over proposed removal," Trinidad and Tobago Newsday, September 14, 2010, accessed February 8, 2014. http://www.newsday.co.tt/news/0,127496.html
