By Erica James-King, Staff Reporter
Vendors at their stalls at a craft market in St. James. - Patrick Campbell/Freelance Photographer
WESTERN BUREAU:
THE ST. James Parish Council will be applying a two-pronged strategy, in its bid to acquire funding, to the tune of $30 million, for infrastructural work on craft markets in the parish.
The Council intends to approach international lending agencies, as well as utilise funds from the lease/sale of the commercial property it owns at Bogue Industrial Estate in Montego Bay, to create the pool of finances needed to set the refurbishing of the craft markets in motion.
According to the Council, it has since last year been unsuccessful in its attempts to get financial assistance from central government, and the Tourism Product Development Company (TPDCo), to carry out the refurbishing needed for the facilities. Against this background, the St. James Parish Council has now set its sights on new avenues for funding.
"When we approached TPDCo, they let us know that owing to budgetary constraints, they could not address the request," Christopher Powell, secretary/manager of the St. James Parish Council told The Gleaner. "We are now actively looking at approaching donor agencies for financing the repairs to the craft markets."
He noted that already the Council has had telephone discussions with some of the donor agencies, but will follow up with more detailed discussions at a later date.
In the meantime, where the Bogue Industrial Estate is concerned, a two-year lease-to-sell agreement is to be worked out with the informal settlers, and other sections of the property are to be sold. "Funds realised from disposal of the property will be used to finance capital projects including the renovation of the Harbour Street and Old Fort craft markets," a statement from the Council noted.
Word from secretary/manager of the St. James Parish Council is that repairs to the Harbour Street Craft Market is expected to amount to $20 million, while that for the Old Fort Craft Market could run to at least $200,000.
The two craft markets operated by the St. James Parish Council, have been reeling from infrastructural needs for a long time, which have drawn the ire of vendors using those facilities. The Old Fort Craft Market is in need of painting and general maintenance, while the majority of the shops at the Harbour Street Craft Market leak profusely when it rains. The need for a perimeter fence is another bugbear for users of the facility.
Marcia Johnson, an elderly craft vendor at the Habour Street facility, is among those traders at the market who complained to The Gleaner about the problems at the market. "The gate at the back of the market cannot be closed and the fence is damaged in certain sections, so sometimes our stalls are broken into by robbers," bemoaned Ms. Johnson.
Vendors at the Harbour Street location are in arrears to the Parish Council to the tune of $1.3 million, while their counterparts at Old Fort are $1.2 million in debt to the Council.
