By Onika Campbell, Freelance WriterWESTERN BUREAU:
DESPITE NUMEROUS promises from the Hanover Parish Council to remedy the deplorable conditions at the Lucea Market, the unsanitary conditions continue to be a source of great concern to both vendors and shoppers.
"It is a disgrace, the Parish Council should be held responsible, because they are allowing mentally ill persons to live in the market," said Maude Spence, one of the vendors who operate at the facility. "The market is covered with faeces and the smell of urine is everywhere... the market is stink."
When The Gleaner visited the Market on Monday, piles of human faeces, believed to have been deposit by the mentally ill some of whom were seen milling around the market were quite obvious in various sections of the facility.
"This is a case of complete nastiness," said a female shopper, as she partially covered her face to avoid making eye contact with a pile of faeces being cleaned up by one vendor. "If I had some place else to do my shopping I definitely would not come here," she added.
Some vendors also complained to The Gleaner that garbage collection at the market is extremely poor and the drains, which run around the market, is quite an unsightly nuisance as they are maggot-infested.
In response to the complaints about the condition at the market, Lucea's Mayor, Councillor Lloyd Hill, told The Gleaner that despite the shortage of funds, the Parish Council would be trying its best to put short-term plans in place to address the situation.
"We will definitely be implementing some short-term plans to address the various problems," said Mayor Hill. "We fully realise the various health concerns and we fully intend to do something about it. We can't have vendors selling fish and other food stuff in a facility infested with flies and maggots."
However, it would appear that the vendors are not convinced that the Parish Council has any real concern about the situation. According to some vendors, they have been using the market for a number of years and they are yet to see any concrete effort to keep the facility in good order.
"It is over ten years now mi a sell in yah and a only so-so empty promises mi deh hear," said the seemingly annoyed vendor. "A fool dem a tek we fah, a because Gleaner come and ask questions why dem a gwaan like dem care."
While conceding that there is a shortage of funds in the Council, Mayor Hill said he knows that there is enough funding to do some short-term work. In fact, he said he saw no good reason why work to alleviate the conditions could not start in another week or two. Not denying that the Council is responsible for the cleaning of the market, Mayor Hill was quite critical of some of the vendors, especially those in the fish section who, he said, had contributed to the generally unsightly state of the market.
"Some of them are guilty of dumping their garbage just outside the market instead of using the garbage receptacles," said Mayor Hill. "If needs be, we are fully prepared to put in additional receptacles."
