Chamber of Commerce Car Park is no more

From today, Friday, October 1, the St.Vincent and the Grenadines Chamber of Industry and Commerce (SVGCIC) will no longer operate the carparks at Arnos Vale and Kingstown which were under its control.{{more}}

This was disclosed by the CIC in a public notice dated, Wednesday, September 28.

On Tuesday, August 3, Prime Minister Dr Ralph Gonsalves confirmed that government had decided not to renew the lease of the premises developed as car parks by the CIC.

He said Cabinet had taken the decision to hand over the parking lots to the Windward Islands Farmers’ Association (WINFA) and the National Labour Congress (NLC), and this was “only fair”, since the Chamber had had the benefit of running them for two five-year terms.

The Prime Minister said the parking lot is a state asset and given the problems being faced by the farmers and workers, they were favourably considered.

The Chamber, 10 years ago, spent $500,000 to build on lands leased from the government the car park in Kingstown which generated $346,038 in revenue in 2008 and $375,198 last year.

Shafia London, Executive Director of the CIC, sharing her views on the issue at the time, said WINFA is a member of the Chamber and awarding them the lease to the car park could hurt both entities.

“It’s like you are dividing the Chamber in addition to undermining its existence,” she said of the proposed lease award.

Gonsalves had described as “rubbish, total rubbish” opinions that the Chamber’s cash cow was being butchered because some of the organisation’s stances have contradicted his administration’s policies.