By Damion Mitchell and Rasbert Turner,Gleaner Writers
The unsanitary Spanish Town market has become a place of residence for several persons. - Norman Grindley /Staff Photographer
THE ST. Catherine Health Department has ordered the closure of the Spanish Town market from this Wednesday because of the unsanitary conditions existing there.
However, while the old capital's major market has been ordered closed, the St. Catherine Parish Council has not yet identified an alternative location for the more than 300 vendors who sell there daily. There are concerns among the vendors and other members of the community that the closure could cause unrest in the town this week.
"The closure of the market means that a preventable chaos is looming," Dr. Raymoth Notice, Mayor of Spanish Town, told The Gleaner yesterday.
He said that many residents of St. Catherine earn their livelihood from the market and that if the Government did not provide the funds to repair it, the future of those persons would be affected.
SHUTDOWN DELAY
The market, located on the congested Cumberland Road, was initially scheduled to be closed in August of this year. However, based on promises by the St. Catherine Parish Council that attempts would be made to have the repairs undertaken, an extension was granted to September 30.
But, according to Samuel Came-ron, the Chief Public Health Inspector for St. Catherine, "The situation has only got worse so the doctors at the Health Department feel that the market has to be closed now."
When The Gleaner visited the Spanish Town market yesterday, goats and other animals were rummaging through piles of garbage which were strewn at the entrance. The stench from the guts of fish, and other refuse, permeated the area. The toilets, which are in need of extensive repair, gave off such foul odours that, according to some vendors, this has resulted in persons responding to calls of nature choosing instead to use an open area adjacent to the market.
TERRIBLE CONDITIONS
In the dilapidated market, a man who is one of the several persons who live there, was washing his clothes in an old plastic container.
"The market is in a terrible condition and them have to do some thing 'bout it now," said Veronica Williams, 49, who said she has been selling in the Princess Market, (its official name), since she was 10 years old.
Dr. Notice said that the St. Catherine Parish Council, of which he is chairman, has written to the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development requesting $4 million to fund emergency repairs to the market, in particular, to the roof and sanitary facilities.
"If this cosmetic sum cannot be granted knowing that the market is an economic bond between St. Catherine and many other parishes, it would be a big failure of and embarrassment to the authorities," he said.
The St. Catherine Parish Council collects an average $300,000 per month in fees from market vendors, but Dr. Notice said that much more could be realised with improvements to the market.
