Despite enjoying a 75 per cent increase in sales for this Carnival, Savannah craft vendors still have a litany of complaints. One of the major contentions the vendors have is that they were not treated with the proper respect by the Carnival organising body, and want more inclusion in the decision-making during planning of the celebrations. "We were never asked for our input," Shawn Borde, president of the Trinidad and Tobago Leather Craft Association, said from his booth near the entrance to the Savannah.
"Year in year out, we have been asking for certain things to improve the standard of our business, but we only get part," Borde said.
He said while the vendors were happy with the Minister of Arts and Multiculturalism Winston "Gypsy" Peters for passing on their request for portable toilets to the NCC, they were still experiencing problems with their usage and maintenance. "The number of toilets is adequate," Borde explained. "None were reserved solely for us, however. Everybody uses the same toilets, from masqueraders, John Public, booth owners and even vagrants. That is the level of disrespect shown to us." Borde also disclosed that no portable bathrooms were available to the vendors, many of whom over-nighted in their booths for fear of theft. "Imagine our workers have to bathe with a bucket of water, hide in a toilet, hide behind a tree or wait late in the night.
"Now there are no sinks, and we are getting an irregular supply of water, and the toilets haven't been cleaned," Borde said. "When the tourists see the condition of the toilets they want to leave." Borde admitted that while certain amenities were met, such as lighting and security, his organisation encountered bureaucracy and personality clashes with several Carnival powers-that-be in securing the quantity of booths they requested. He wouldn't elaborate. Also, there was no contingency plan for rain or dust. "We requested porta-floors but never received them," Borde said. "We were lucky it didn't rain, flood or got mud. We've been peddling a lot of dust!" he joked.
Some of the vendors showed their self-reliance and supplied their own steps, modules and pallets out of their own pockets. Borde said the barricades that lined the parade route and separated spectators from masqueraders during Carnival also hampered potential customers and tourists from reaching their booths. "We don't ever get a chance to have our voices heard," Borde said."This is an ongoing problem in securing a meeting with the Carnival bodies. If we do get through, we usually get a runaround. It's frustrating. "We are putting in our proposals early right after Carnival, and must thank the minister for securing the type of booths we wanted."