- PHOTO BY MONIQUE HEPBURN
Marcia Taylor of Middle Quarters, St. Elizabeth, sells shrimp to passing motorists. The area is renowned for its thriving pepper shrimp industry.
Cedric Johnson, Gleaner Writer
Darliston, WESTMORELAND:
THE OLD food and vegetable market in Darliston, Westmoreland, was last week demolished to make way for the construction of the town's multimillion-dollar transportation centre.
However, while this promises to solve the problem of traffic congestion in the busy square, it has created another, as vendors who have been using the market for many years now have no facility from which to sell their wares.
"It is presenting a real problem for many vendors who use that location and I believe some provision should be made to relocate them, even temporarily," said businessman Pete Manboard in a Western Focus interview recently.
LEFT HANGING
"To leave them like that is certainly not in keeping with the way people ought to be treated."
Mr. Manboard said he has been trying to make some arrangements for the vendors so that they can continue their business. To this end, he appealed to the Westmoreland Parish Council to construct a facility for vending. He said the vending area that has been proposed will be part of the transportation centre complex and will not be adequate for the vendors and their customers, especially on weekends.
However, when contacted, the councillor for the area, Trevor Jamieson, told Western Focus that an arrangement is in place for vendors to use an area where construction has not yet started. Vendors will then be shifted to another section, depending on the work in progress.
"It is planned that tarpaulins will be put up on Fridays and Saturdays to facilitate the vendors and buyers," Mr. Jamieson said.
"We think they should find another place that is suitable to put us. We are not comfortable here since dem pull down de market," said Hyacinth Peynado, a vendor who has been selling in the market for the past 10 years.
