WESTERN BUREAU:

Several vendors operating in the Santa Cruz Arcade in St Elizabeth are waiting anxiously to hear if they will get help to restart businesses after a massive fire damaged the structure on Sunday night.

More than 30 shops valued millions of dollars were destroyed in the blaze.

Secretary/manager at the St Elizabeth Parish Council, Gerald Lee, told The Gleaner that he could not make any commitments until a meeting is convened later today.

"We will have to assess the situation, but we will first have to do a general clean-up.

"I can't say definitively what we will be doing at this time," Lee said.

The cause of the fire has not yet been determined.

Relocation

In the meantime, Lee said plans to relocate the vendors to an adjacent plot of land would have to be accelerated.

However, the vendors do not want to be relocated. They claim that the proposed area is flood prone.

Lee said measures to address their concerns could be considered .

"Proper drainage systems will have to be put in place to mitigate against flooding," he explained.

Vendors were adamant, however, that they would start reconstruction. But Kenneth Mullings, the council's superintendent of roads and works, warned the vendors against such a move.

"We won't allow any building to be constructed. Everything will have to be done in an orderly fashion, or we will demolish them," Mullings said.