Sapo creating eye-catching fruit stall

When one journeys through Scotts Pass in Clarendon there is one thing that cannot be missed - well laid out fruit stalls with colours so inviting that you are often tempted to stop.

Cecil 'Sapo' Douglas, a long-time fruit vendor, said that laying out the fruits into works of art is a time consuming but necessary part of their daily lives.

His stall, that stands about six feet tall, houses fruits of all sizes and colours, making it hard for the work of art to go unnoticed.

"A bare good feedback me get from customers and people who pass by. Them tell me say them love how me stall set up pretty and it just make me happy, enuh, because I feel like my work is paying off," Douglas said.

"Me nuh just put out the fruit like that and leave it. When I hang them out I go like across the road and see if it look good, because sometimes it nuh look nice to the people passing. If it nuh look appealing, you will find that people pass and not even stop, so me have to spend time on it," he added.

Douglas has been selling fruits in Scotts Pass for decades. His mother operated from the spot that he currently uses. Like she did, the 69-year-old similarly provides for his family from the stall, while honouring his mother's legacy.

"Me born come see my mother a do this -- from when people use to walk with basket pon head. A over 50 years she use to do it and me use to help her. Me know the trade and me just come use it to send my five kids a school," Douglas told THE STAR.

Economic pinch

Like many businesses, fruit vendors in Scotts Pass have been feeling the economic pinch brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. The implementation of three weekend lockdowns, which gave way to a modified early curfew on Saturdays and Sundays has been causing pain.

"Since COVID it slow because on the lockdown days I use to have the best selling days," Douglas said. And there is more.

"To think about the highway them a build too, majority of the vehicle a guh bypass here so. Unless it is a near journey the person going so is less money that," he said.

The highway to which he refers is the May Pen to Williamsfield leg of Highway 2000, which will bypass Scotts Pass. It is scheduled to come on stream by the end of next year.

Despite the obvious worries, Douglas is contented with counting his blessings. He treasures the fact that his fruit stall not only provides him with an income but it helps to guarantee his independence.

"I can open or close when I want, so if me nuh want to work a day, I can stay home. But I always try to be here to please my customers," he said. "It makes me happy when me can sell them fruits and ting because them look forward to the fresh produce."