— food vendors cry at price for biodegradable containers, call for consultation

By Svetlana Marshall
FOOD vendors across the capital city are in full support of the “Expanded Polystyrene Ban,” or the “Ban on Styrofoam,” but are calling on the Government to hold consultations on the proposed alternatives, contending that the cost for biodegradable containers is too high.

On Monday, many food vendors told Guyana Chronicle that while they were in full support of the ban, they were uncertain of their options and the impact such ban would have on their daily operations.
Selling on the corner of Wellington and Regent Streets, (on the southern side), Adeola Azora said she heard of the ban but needed more clarity. Azora, who has been selling under a make-shift tent in the vicinity for more than eight years, said there was an urgent need for the Government to hold consultations on the alternatives.
“I don’t have a problem with the ban, but I would like to know what my options are,” she told this newspaper as she served one of her daily customers.
Quizzed on the possible usage of the biodegradable containers, Azora said she had never heard of it and as such, was clueless.

“I have never seen it. I never saw it. I don’t know nothing about it but according to what I hear, they pushing these paper boxes but that can’t work, especially for people like me who selling curry fish and food with gravy. It will go right through the box,” she explained.
On the opposite side of Regent and Wellington Streets, another food vendor who asked to remain anonymous, echoed similar sentiments. “I understand the reason for the ban… but my basic concern is this: What do they have in place and how will it affect us vendors, cost wise?”

NOT A GOOD OPTION
Though underscoring the negative impact Styrofoam containers have on the environment and its effects on human beings, the woman said cardboard paper boxes are not a very good option.

“Certain foods cannot be sold in a paper box especially foods that have to do with gravy, it will sag and you don’t want that. For us, it is all about presentation,” she lamented.
Unlike, Azora, she would have heard of the biodegradable containers but said they were being sold at very high prices.
“I am all for progress but they have to understand that consideration must be given to the cost…. So if this biodegradable stuff that they are going to bring is cost effective, and we could manage it and don’t have to pass that cost unto the customers, well then yeah, I am for it. But before they make any decision, what they can do is consult with us… call us to a meeting and let us talk,” she opined.
Gillian Langhorne, who operates in the vicinity of the Stabroek Market, said she was 100 per cent in support of the ban on Styrofoam containers but made it clear that any additional cost to purchase the alternative containers would be passed onto the customers.
Though stating that she was “ready for this change,” Langhorne said she was still to decide on her alternative. “I was just telling the person that I would buy my Styrofoam containers from, that after this batch I would not be buying anymore. But I don’t know what I am switching to.”
Ombalisha Roberts, who has been in the food business since 2001, said the ban was a timely initiative but called on the Government to waive the taxes on the alternative food service products such as the biodegradable food boxes and cups.
Roberts, who runs the popular food outlet opposite the Sophia Bus Park – the People’s Choice – said failure to implement measures that would reduce the impact of such a change would result in the regular man on the street feeling the impact.

COST WILL GO UP
It was explained that the cost of food would go up since the alternatives are costly when compared with the Styrofoam containers.
Henry Allen, an elderly man who has been selling food at the side of the Universal Church of the Kingdom of God, the building which formerly housed the Strand Cinema for more than 20 years, signaled his no-objection.
“I don’t have a problem with it because before we had Styrofoam boxes we had cardboard boxes and if they go back to that I would welcome it. I am ready for this change but for now I am selling in the Styrofoam boxes,” he said. In addition to Styrofoam boxes, Allen serves his customers in ware plates.
Of all the vendors that spoke to Guyana Chronicle on Monday, Parbatie Singh, the owner of Anjali’s Food Deli, was the only business person using an alternative to Styrofoam.
“I have been in the food business since the 1970s so I know for sure that this ban is the move in the right direction,” she told this newspaper. At her Food Deli, which is situated opposite the Georgetown Public Hospital (GPHC), Singh is now serving her customers in cardboard boxes and cups. “We started using alternative containers since Thursday, December 31,” she said but explained that it came at a high cost.
“It is not cheaper. It is about four times the cost of the Styrofoam,” she complained while pointing out that in the past she would have purchased 100 Styrofoam boxes at a cost of $2,500 but now she buys the 100 cardboard boxes at a cost of $8,000. “It is not feasible at all but we have not increased our prices.”
The ban on the importation of expanded polystyrene food products which include food containers, plates, hot and cold beverage cups, egg cartons and meat and vegetable trays took effect from January 1, 2016 but the Government has given importers and food operators a three-month grace period to utilise the stocks in house or those that have already been shipped to Guyana before it takes full effect. It is now encouraging the use of alternative products to closed-cell extruded polystyrene foam (Styrofoam) for the achievement of a cleaner, greener Guyana.