Negril Fruits and Vegetable Market back on track

WESTERN BUREAU:

After a prolonged dispute between the Ministry of Local Government and Community Development and the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation (WMC), a path has now been cleared for work to commence on the construction of the highly anticipated Negril Fruits and Vegetable Market.

The dispute, which started with the previous WMC administration that was led by former Mayor Bertel Moore, saw Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie publicly criticising the former mayor and his administration for holding up the approval of the building plan for the market, which architects from his central ministry had reportedly prepared and submitted for approval.

“We will now notify the Ministry of Local Government that the WMC has approved the plan, and we are expecting funding now for the implementation of this facility,” said Andre Griffiths, the chief executive officer (CEO) of the WMC, at last Thursday’s monthly meeting of the corporation.

“Before coming here (WMC), there was much fanfare about the plans being submitted for approval. However, I realised that that was not the case, so I basically monitored that application directly,” said Griffiths.

Griffiths, who was transferred from the St Catherine Municipal Corporation to Westmoreland in December 2023, said the building plan for the market has now received clearance and approval from all external agencies, including the Negril and Green Island Local Planning Authority (NEGALPA).

“We submitted it to NEGALPA, who gave their comments favourably. We had to get an engineer to sign off on the plan based on the size of it, and the corporation paid for that,” he said.

BUILDING PLAN

According to Griffiths, the building plan for the much-touted fruits and vegetables market, which will be constructed in Negril, came directly from the local government ministry after it was designed by architects in that ministry.

Arthnel Colley, the councillor for the Negril Division, said he was aware of the progress being made regarding the fruit and vegetable market, and that plans are afoot for the WMC to advise the Negril Chamber of Commerce and Industry, which has a vested interest in the facility.

“Before coming here, I always heard that the WMC was not doing anything to build the fruits and vegetables market, but it’s only after I came here that I realised that the local government [minister] had his foot on the neck of the council and was saying, ‘get up’,” said Colley, who became the councillor for the Negril Division in 2024.

“I am grateful that he has removed his foot, and we are able to move forward,” added Colley, who is hoping the project will start in another three months, adding that McKenzie had repeatedly told the country that the money is at the ministry.

Savanna-la-Mar Mayor Danree Delancy, the chairman of the WMC, while noting that McKenzie has been strident in advocating for the market, nonetheless said the criticism he levelled against the WMC was unfair.

“The minister made comments that put the WMC in a bad light as it relates to the construction of the facility… . I am also of the opinion that the minister, on several occasions, had been misled and misinformed… . I think [the] minister should now be fully aware of the matter at hand. I am looking forward to working assiduously with him to get this facility up and running in the shortest possible time,” said Delancy.

In 2017, McKenzie said $75 million had been committed to build the market, and in 2023, he told The Gleaner that more than $9 million had already been spent to create the temporary facility for the merchants, as the people are still waiting for the market.

editorial@gleanerjm.com