George Henry, Gleaner Writer
Brown
SPALDINGS, Clarendon:
MILTON BROWN, chairman of the Clarendon Parish Council, has warned that vendors at the Spaldings municipal market will be required to pay market fees when the selling area is relocated.
"The location belongs to the Clarendon Parish Council but it's not an organised market," said Mayor Brown in an interview with Farmers Weekly. "The people use it but I think we need to streamline it. We cannot allow it to just continue as a 'bend down'."
He said the market needed to be relocated as the facilities had fallen into disrepair. Due to the state of the market, the mayor said the council could not charge a fee before carrying out the
necessary improvements.
When Farmers Weekly visited the facility recently, only the front section closer to the main road was being used for vending. Asked why the inside section of the market was not being used, vendors pointed to the dilapidated conditions. The facility, they complained, leaks whenever it rains and their goods sometimes get damaged.
The section previously used by butchers to sell meat is no longer in use. Butchers are currently selling meat from a private facility in the town, which the health department continues to monitor.
Mayor Brown said funds had been identified for the construction of the new market but he could not state the actual figure. It is understood that the drawings for the facility have been completed, but the construction date has not been determined.
