Robert McMillan (right), advertising executive, yesterday with Ken Wilson (left), president of the Rotary Club of Kingston, and Gassan Azan, Jr., managing director of Bashco Ltd., and MegaMart Ltd., during the club's luncheon meeting at Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. - Rudolph BrownGASSAN AZAN, Jr., chairman of the newly-formed Kingston and St. Andrew Markets Co., yesterday questioned its chances of effectively managing commercial activity in the city given the "rampant lawlessness" in downtown Kingston.
Citing the "blatant disregard for the law" by vendors who protested against recent attempts by the authorities to relocate them from the streets to the renovated market areas, Mr. Azan, managing director of MegaMart Co. Ltd. and Bashco Trading Co., said that if the authorities were not so slow and indecisive in the application of the law to indiscipline, the situation would never have arisen.
But he said that although he had doubts that the Kingston & St. Andrew Markets Co. would be allowed to do its job in the lawless climate, he would give it his best shot.
"The events of the last two weeks have forced me to question whether this organisation will be allowed to make a difference or even get off the mark," Mr. Azan said adding, "But I am prepared to give it my best effort".
Mr. Azan, was speaking at the Rotary Club of Kingston's Luncheon meeting at Le Meridien Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston, called for an end to the double-standard application of the law to indiscipline in the society.
"What we are seeing here is not only two sets of economies, but two sets of laws, one which applies to the average law-abiding citizen, the other which applies to a few hoodlums in the society," he said.
While commending the efforts of Town Clerk Errol Greene and the police to clear the streets and sidewalks of vendors, Mr. Azan charged that the leadership required to bring resolution to issues of conflict in the city was lacking.
Now that calm was being restored to the commercial business district, he said, "... if we see the leadership from the right quarters in the society, we can solve the problems of indiscipline and lawlessness which we see not only in downtown Kingston, but in the country as a whole."
"I feel that we who are in the majority must break our silence. We must demand the kind of leadership and representation which ensure that a positive climate is created, promoting respect for law and order and for each other as Jamaicans," he said.
Most of the 10,000 vendors on the streets of downtown Kingston defied the municipal authorities' attempts to relocate them last week Monday; by late that afternoon it was business as usual.
Town Clerk Errol Greene subsequently blamed the Jamaica Chamber of Commerce for the botched relocation, saying businessmen's public proposal that some vendors be allowed to stay until after Christmas had encouraged them to remain on the streets.
Members of the chamber, of which Mr. Azan is a director, had proposed to lock down their businesses in the commercial district for two days if the markets and arcades had not been refurbished by October 22. The CofC subsequently requested that some vendors be allowed to remain on Beckford and Princess streets until January 20 next year.
