Claremont Market still roofless

Vendors and customers who use the Claremont Market in St Ann continue to endure disruption as the building remains without a roof, six months after Hurricane Melissa tore through the parish in October – just weeks after the facility had been repossessed from a lessee by the local authorities.

Damage to the market has been estimated at roughly $8 million. Repairs, however, remain stalled as the St Ann Municipal Corporation awaits an insurance pay-out. In the absence of those funds, the municipality says it has no means to carry out interim works.

Donna, a vendor who sells food and clothing at the market, said conditions worsened after the municipality resumed control and raised market fees, only for the hurricane to compound vendors’ difficulties. Since then, her sales have suffered.

“I still sell inside, jus’ a likkle part of the roof we underneath. A lady who sell in front, she haffi get a tent fi use, dat a before yesterday,” she explained.

Heavy rainfall recently left vendors scrambling once again. Buckets and brooms were pressed into service as water pooled across the floor, while cardboard was laid down in a bid to contain the flooding.

“All di clothes dem mi a sell, dem wet up because wata blow in. Mi sell food an mi sell clothes and slippers but nuff day mi cyaa put dem out. Yesterday wata go underneath and wet up some ah di stuff dem.”

Insurance settlement

The councillor for the Claremont Division, Kaydian Harty, confirmed that the municipal corporation remains in limbo, awaiting an insurance settlement before any repairs can move ahead.

“We know that assessments were done, estimates were sent to our insurance companies and we’re waiting for them to pay out but it’s taking forever and it’s causing a grave inconvenience to our vendors,” Harty said on Saturday.

What exactly is behind the delay remains unclear, and no timeline has been given for when the pay-out might materialise.

“Vendors are still using the market so when the rain falls there is no market because it is flooded, that’s how bad it is and the parish council has said there is no money in house to do anything on the market so they’re waiting on insurance,” she added.

The impasse sits awkwardly alongside broader government efforts to upgrade market infrastructure across the island. In 2024, the Jamaica Information Service reported that more than $35 million was allocated for repairs to the Ocho Rios and St Ann’s Bay markets to address years of neglect.

More recently, in February 2026, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie broke ground for the construction of a new market in Alexandria, St Ann. That followed the opening of the newly built Buff Bay market in Portland in August 2025, a project that cost close to $70 million.

In addition to providing dedicated spaces for vendors, the Buff Bay facility was equipped with fire protection systems and security cameras – features that stand in stark contrast to the exposed and improvised conditions now facing traders in Claremont.

carl.gilchrist@gleanerjm.com