Breakfast Shed braces for shutdown

After 30 years serving the community with lunches and breakfasts, the Breakfast Shed will close its doors permanently — by next week Monday. The area is the site for Udecott’s (Urban Development Corporation for Trinidad and Tobago) $1.2 billion waterfront complex. One stall owner told Newsday the matter was in the hands of a lawyer since they were not willing to take the $93,000 per stall being offered. “We don’t mind moving, and we don’t want to stand in the way of betterment for the country,” she said. She added that there were 15 stalls and $93,000 was not enough to share among the 70 workers. She continued, “We are waiting for a better settlement. We can’t go home with that. We have to go home with something and we are hoping for the public’s sympathy.”

The vendor said many different people came to the Breakfast Shed every day and even Prime Minister Patrick Manning and Government ministers have graced their tables. Udecott CEO, Winston Agard said Government had not yet secured the area to be used for the Free Trade Area of the Americas headquarters building. Udecott will use the site for a new office tower, 22-storey building, a conference room, an exhibition space, three function rooms, a translation booth, a media room, a four or five-star hotel, a retail shopping facility, and a multi-storey building. When Newsday asked Agard about the Breakfast Shed settlement, he said it was in the process of negotiation and he was unable to comment on it. The new waterfront complex is scheduled be completed in 2007.

Meanwhile, the Cruise Ship Complex has been moved to Shed Four. Seamen and Waterfront Workers Trade Union President General, Michael Annisette, said he was profoundly disappointed with the settlement being offered to the Breakfast Shed workers. “That is an inhuman approach and we have an affinity with the workers of the Breakfast Shed because they have been assisting port workers for years,” he said. “The Government knew what they were doing and should ensure they (vendors) were properly compensated for their accommodation.” In a release, Minister of Planning and Development, Camille Robinson Regis, said a settlement of the Breakfast Shed workers was imminent. The location will be at the eastern entrance to the waterfront project site with access to the Brian Lara Promenade. She added that Udecott was exploring its options for a cash settlement as an alternative to relocation, and negotiations were in progress. Port Authority Chairman Noel Garcia was unavailable for comment.