By Erica James-King, Staff ReporterWESTERN BUREAU:
DESPITE REPEATED warnings, the St. James Parish Council has not taken the corrective steps required to address the health concerns at the Old Shoe Market in Montego Bay, which is being operated contrary to health standards.
Cautioning that an epidemic could break out at the facility, the St. James Health Department served a 30-day warning notice on the Council last October, warning that the Council stood to face tough sanctions if sanitary facilities and proper solid waste disposal facilities were not put in place at the Old Shoe Market.
However, the warning has seemingly been ignored as according to Desmond Clarke, Chief Public Health Inspector for St. James, in the three months since the first notice was issued, "The unsanitary conditions continue unabated, even though the warning issued on them has expired a long time ago."
ULTIMATUM
Mr. Clarke further noted that within recent times the situation at the facility had become more acute. According to him, there has been a marked increase in the number of vendors at that location since the issuance of the ultimatum. Checks by The Gleaner reveal that some 50 additional vendors had moved onto Old Shoes Market because business at the nearby People Arcade is reportedly quite sluggish.
Even though the health department can serve a closure notice on the Old Shoe Market, Mr. Clarke says he is trying to go the route of additional dialogue with the parish council before slapping them with any draconian measures.
CLOSURE ORDER
"We have referred the matter to the Western Regional Health Authority and they are to continue the dialogue with the Council," Mr. Clarke said. "Let's hope that good sense will prevail and we will not have to resort to a closure order."
When contacted for a comment on the situation yesterday, Christopher Powell, secret-ary/manager of the St. James Parish Council, said the Council "has not yet taken a decision as to when it would begin to correct the sanitation needs" at the Old Shoe Market. He says the matter will be discussed at the Council's next monthly meeting, which is slated for February 11.
SANITARY FACILITY
During last October's monthly sitting of the Council, Councillor Heroy Clarke recommended that an old building on the site, which was previously used by construction workers, be refurbished and used as a sanitary facility.
"I hope from this council that we could seek to find funding... to maybe purchase two or three toilets to put in the facility to at least alleviate the problem," Councillor Clarke proposed to the Council. He later told The Gleaner that he believes $100,000 could be used to effect repairs to the building.
Last year, the National Works Agency (NWA) claimed that the undue delays being experienced in cleaning the garbage-choked South Gully could be blamed on the reluctance of the vendors to vacate the Old Shoe Market, which sits atop the South Gully.
