By Claudia Gardner, Gleaner WriterHANOVER:
AS THE debate surrounding the conditions at the Cleveland Stanhope Market in Lucea heats up, Lucea's Mayor and Chairman of the Hanover Parish Council, Councillor Lloyd Hill, has listed the upgrading of the market as the top priority for the town.
Councillor Hill's statement comes against the background of recent threats by Derrick Storer, the parish's Chief Public Health Inspector, to close down the facility if the Parish Council does not take immediate steps to remedy the filthy conditions at the market.
"Our priority at this time is the upgrading of the market," said Councillor Hill, in his report at the recent monthly meeting of the Council. "This project is already approved under the Parish Infrastructure Development Programme (PIDP) and will definitely be implemented in the near future."
In the interim, Councillor Hill said that because of the grave concern about the present state of the market, the Council will be doing the very best it can with the limited resources at its disposal to maintain it at an acceptable level until the major improvements are carried out.
Within recent months, the Mayor and the Council in general have come under fire from the Hanover Parish Development Committee (HPDC), which has been lobbying for the closure of the market and its relocation to another site in the town.
Since the start of the year, both vendors and shoppers have been complaining about the incessant heat inside the market, the stagnant drains, and the general filthy state of the facility, which they claim has been exacerbated by the failure of the Parish Council to wash and properly monitor the market.
It would appear that the decision to relocate the market might not find favour with some of the vendors using the facility. Earlier this year, angry placard-bearing vendors marched to the Hanover Parish Council building to protest the relocation plan.
