Trinidad: Destitute Venezuelans roam Sando streets
Two Warao women and their children beg for assistance to buy food on High Street, San Fernando yesterday.
December 20, 2020
(Trinidad Guardian) Amidst the bustle of Christmas shopping on High Street, San Fernando, Venezuelan migrants are roaming the streets in search of work and food. At the corner of Penitence Street, five members of the Warao tribe stood with a placard, begging for help. Four young Warao children played nearby.
A woman who identified herself as Rosanna held up a placard which read, “Please Help me. I don’t have a job.”
Another women’s placard read, “We are the Warao ethnic group of Venezuela. Can you please help me ….buy food? God Bless you.”
Two Warao women and their children beg for assistance to buy food on High Street, San Fernando yesterday.
Amidst the bustle of Christmas shopping on High Street, San Fernando, Venezuelan migrants are roaming the streets in search of work and food.
At the corner of Penitence Street, five members of the Warao tribe stood with a placard, begging for help. Four young Warao children played nearby.
A woman who identified herself as Rosanna held up a placard which read, “Please Help me. I don’t have a job.”
Another women’s placard read, “We are the Warao ethnic group of Venezuela. Can you please help me ….buy food? God Bless you.”
Unlike previous years, clothing, shoes and accessories have taken a hit.
At the Dollar Store on Lower High Street, store owner Latiffa Rahim said sales were abysmal.
“Look around we have no customers. Sales went down by 100 per cent. We don’t sell anything expensive. We are begging customers to come in but people have no money. Customers are crying that they have no money. They coming and are short of money. We try to help as much as we could,” she said.
She said cloth fabric was being sold at three yards for $20 and this too was remaining on the shelves. Because of the decrease in sales, Rahim said she has reduced her workforce by half.
Head of San Fernando chamber happy for Xmas sales
Scores of shoppers flood High Street, San Fernando, looking for Christmas items on Friday afternoon. - CHEQUANA WHEELER
Considering the pandemic caused the closure of businesses for several months, San Fernando saw an increase in sales in the final week before Christmas, said the president of the Greater San Fernando Area Chamber of Commerce (GSFCC). Going into the last week before Christmas, businesses are getting increases in retail activities, Kiran Singh told Newsday, adding, It is not the increase we have received in years gone by. It is not like last year’s Christmas.
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