Vendors not affected by glass bottle ban

Vendors around the Queen’s Park Savannah had no issue with the ban on glass bottles over the Carnival weekend saying they were not affected by at at all.

Newsday spoke with several vendors about the law, which was being implemented for the first time, and were told that nothing about it affected them negatively and customers were not disturbed either. Judith Ashby and her daughter Mel said they appreciated the change in law as it made them and masqueraders feel safer.

Selling at the same spot for the past five five years, the duo said many of the bands provided cups so some of the cups they purchased were never used. In spite of this, the extra cost, they said, did not impact them in a major way.

Another vendor, Israel Narinesingh, said the only issue he encountered was that many of the customers were not in favour of the canned drinks and preferred the bottled drinks be poured into cups.

“No one likes the canned drinks but the ban had no impact on us in any way and we had additional expenses to purchase cups and ice. The people feel safer knowing there was no glass bottles around you know. As for having to pour the drinks in a cup, I accustomed working in a bar so that was not an issue at all.”

Zack Noel and Ahmed Latiff who operated a bar along Frederick Street, opposite Memorial Park, said they too were not affected by the ban. The only issue they said was their location as the bands bypassed Frederick Street and entered the savannah via Charlotte Street, one block away.

The men added that most of the bands were all inclusive so their targeted clientèle were not the masqueraders but the spectators following the bands.

“Another issue was the ice. It was melting too fast. I had to go Chaguanas to get them big block ice because we had to keep the drinks cold and have for pouring into the cups” Noel said. Ahmed added that the ban is a good thing and they had to drop their prices not because of it but due to lack of customers.

The glass bottle ban, which came eight years after it was conceptualised by then Port of Spain mayor Louis Lee Sing, penalises anyone with a glass bottle at any Carnival event on Carnival Monday and Tuesday. The law stipulated that only authorised vendors were to be in possession of glass bottles.

Anyone held with a glass bottle within the stipulated period are liable to a $1,000 fine or up to six months in jail. Police were given the power to be lenient and seize the glass bottles rather than arrest the offender.

The areas that the bottles were banned were: Port-of-Spain, St James, San Juan, Santa Cruz, Maracas Bay, Tunapuna, Arouca, Arima, San Rafael, Maracas St. Joseph, Sangre Grande, Rio Claro, Mayaro, Chaguanas, Couva, Freeport, San Fernando, Princes Town, Fyzabad, Siparia, Penal, Cedros, Point Fortin, La Brea, Santa Flora, Scarborough, Crown Point and Roxborough.