St. Maart: Lower prices not wanted

MARIGOT - Members of the Market Restaurant Association and the local business association Adicasm are planning a series of actions they say are intended to protest plans by a businessman to set up a Chinese supermarket and restaurant on the waterfront in Marigot.

They told The Daily Herald on Sunday they would be going into high gear to force authorities to step in and protect what was left of local businesses.

The groups are questioning the motive for setting up a Chinese restaurant in the former KFC building in Marigot opposite the location the Commune had reserved for local restaurants and vendors.

News of the supermarket and restaurant broke when a local restaurateur said she had been approached by a Chinese national telling her she would be able to buy cheaper merchandise from him as soon as his supermarket was set up. The news spread quickly and received harsh reaction from the local community which views the move as unfair competition.
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Adicasm President Paul Whit is joining forces with Illidge and his members in calling for a halt to plans for the new supermarket and restaurant. "We are not afraid of competition, but we need to protect our people in order for us to survive, especially after the December 7 vote where we expressed a willingness to chart our course and put our people first," Whit said.

This protectionist impulse by the MRA is not only racist, it also works against the best interests of the consumer.