By Leslie McLean, Gleaner WriterCLAREMONT, St. Ann:
THE ST. ANN Parish Council has decided to carry out a tour of the Brown's Town Market on which a contractor ceased working in November 2002 after only $29 million of the $50 million announced by the Ministry of Local Government was spent.
This information was gleaned from the monthly meeting of the St. Ann Parish Council on Thursday, May 13.
Deputy Mayor and councillor for the Bamboo division, Sidney Stewart, noted that the market belonged to the council and it would have to make a decision as to what needs to be done, as the Ministry of Local Government was not telling the truth as to when work would commence.
He said "At one stage we were told that the contract was signed and work would commence, later the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) signed off on the loan and now we are told the IADB had not signed off yet."
A NATIONAL ISSUE
He pointed out that the issue surrounding the Brown's Town Market was a national issue, as it was used by vendors from all over the island, and at present, vendors were scattered along the main street because of the poor condition of the market.
Secretary manager of the council, Dorothy Delgado, was of the view that if the work had been completed, the Roads and Works Department, would have been empowered and if the Parish Council had been given those funds, the Brown's Town market would "be a showpiece today".
She disclosed that the council intended to close the market for two days but Mayor of St. Ann's Bay, Councillor Delroy Giscombe announced that a tour of the market would take place on Wednesday, May 26.
He invited the other 15 councillors to be a part of the tour and said at the end of the tour, a decision would be made.
He added "even if we have to close it for a week or two, we will do it, as we are losing much revenue. We have gone to Kingston and still no commencement, we can't prolong it anymore."
