If vendors on Potter’s Cay Dock and Arawak Cay want to “play the fool” by failing to pay their outstanding lease payments within the next two weeks, only the Cabinet would be able to save their businesses, Agriculture and Marine Resources Minister V. Alfred Gray warned.
Gray said vendors have gotten away too long without paying the government what is due.
“If they rather go out of business, that’s fine because I have people knocking on my door seeking to get a space at Arawak Cay and seeking to get a space at Potter’s Cay.
The minister extended the payment deadline from the end of August. He is now giving vendors until the middle to September to pay up or enter into a payment arrangement.
Gray said it was agreed during a meeting that vendors on Arawak Cay would pay $200 a month and vendors on Potter’s Cay Dock would pay $100 a month on their arrears, while keeping their leases current.
“I am told that some vendors are belligerent and they refuse to accept that proposal. And unless the Cabinet of The Bahamas stops me, I am going to ensure that those who have no leases, are not licensed and if they have no license to operate, I am going to ask the police to close them down. And I want that to be loud and clear,” he added.
Gray revealed that some vendors owe the government as much as $50,000.
