PM TO HAVE BREAKFAST SHED LUNCH

Prime Minister Patrick Manning took the opportunity of International Women’s Day to meet with three cooks of the Breakfast Shed yesterday, and promised to have lunch with them sometime this week. After the meeting, Charmaine Best, who has had a stall at the Breakfast Shed for several years, told Newsday that the Prime Minister told them that they were important and efforts would be made to get a suitable relocation that would allow them not only to sustain their livelihood, but also provide other opportunities for expanding their businesses. She said  they have not been given a definite day to leave the present site which is in the way of port development. 

The media was invited for a photo opportunity and heard the Prime Minister tell the cooks, “I wanted to meet with you for a long time.” The cooks have been offered a settlement of $93,000 per stall or a  new location at the eastern entrance of the waterfront project site, which also provides access to the Brian Lara Promenade. The majority of stall owners who spoke to Newsday said they had no problem with the cash settlement, but one said she was hoping for a better cash offer. Udecott CEO Winston Agard said there is no intention of destroying the structure until an agreement is reached. “It is in negotiation and they have to get back to us when they come to a resolution,” he said. Stephen Thomas, vice president of the PSA, said the situation with the Breakfast Shed was badly handled.

“They weren’t properly advised and I am currently speaking with the group,” he said. He added that the Breakfast Shed cooks were expected to meet with Udecott yesterday afternoon, and the stall owners needed assistance, and that the PSA was willing to help them and seek their interest. “They just shouldn’t accept the money and go home after 30 years of bringing an income for their families, and having dependents.” He mentioned that the workers should have the package and a viable relocation for them. “The PSA is prepared to lend  assistance to the workers, with a settlement and a relocation.” Joan Yuille-Williams, Minister of Community Development and Gender Affairs, said that the Breakfast Shed stall owners would receive full support from the Government.

“It is an institution that has been around for 39 years, and they should be owners of premises they can have a lease of which they can be proud.” Port-of-Spain Mayor Murchison Brown told Newsday that everything would be done to ensure that the Breakfast Shed  continues its history. He added that the land was owned by the Port-of-Spain City Corporation at one time, but it was given to the port Authority. “We gave them opportunity to run it,” he said. Hazel Brown, coordinator of Network of NGOs for the Advancement of Women in Trinidad and Tobago, said that it does not matter how much money the women receive. “It has to do with how the women organise themselves to own their resources,” she explained. “They should have their own resources, where they can’t move and build a place for themselves.”