Cabbage Beach Vendors:”We Made This Beach, This is Our Beach”

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NASSAU , BAHAMAS – For more than 30 years, vendors have been making a living right here on Cabbage Beach, but now a newly erected fence along the shoreline has them fearing for their livelihood. But they say they’re not backing down.

Alexis Lloyd – Vendor

“I’m here. Cabbage Beach is gonna be on my obituary. You understand? I’m here for life, okay? Okay.”

Around 9 this morning, there was trouble in paradise as vendors moved to stop the erection of a fence along the beach and shoreline.

The fence is allegedly connected to an ongoing construction project.

But these vendors say what they were told by developers about how the project would affect their businesses was very different from what they saw happening on the ground.

Ishmael Sutherland – Vendor

“We knew about what they was doing, but they didn’t let us know that they was gonna put the fence across. They told us that they was gonna work with us and we would still be able to work.”

Vendors could be seen disrupting the fence installation, saying it would block their access to the beach. And they made it clear, they aren’t going down without a fight.

Vendor

“My blanket and my car ready to go central, okay? And me not gonna let no foreigner coming in country and run over this, like we is no dummy.”

And for Rashanda Key, this fight is personal.

The vendor, who has been paralyzed since 2014, says Cabbage Beach has been her source of income and helped her provide for her family, including putting her two children through school.

Key adds, losing access to the beach could mean losing her livelihood.

Rashanda Key – Vendor

“If they take that from me, I don’t know. They must be sending me home to die. I don’t know.”

Rashanda Key – Vendor

“We made this beach. Some people been on here for 36 years. This our beach.”

With the fence now pushing vendors closer to the waterline, low tide gave them some room to operate today.

But they say that space disappears when the water rises.

Rashanda Key – Vendor

“You have to be up there. The waves is be like eight foot high. So no way they sending us out there to drown, to die.”

One tourism official also visited the beach, but declined to comment on the situation.

Rodney Williams – Senior Officer, Ministry of Tourism

“I cannot speak on those, or I cannot speak to any matter at this time. But you’re the regulator of the vendors, so right now you don’t have anything? No, I was not given instruction to say anything or do anything.”