Mayor Scott outlines the way forward to vendors’ concerns at Old Harbour market

The municipality found itself in the crosshairs of the business operators after the mayor informed them at a meeting recently about plans to replace their wooden structures with retrofitted containers.

This sudden notice has angered the owners as only weeks ago they had to relocate from the front of the market district to make way for the re-establishment of the East Street Transportation Park.

According to operators of the shops, the relocation exercise has come at a high financial cost to them with figures averaging $250,000.

Scott, who is the Mayor of Spanish Town, classified the situation as an unfortunate sequence of events beyond the control of the Council.

The meeting with the mayor did not sit well with the proprietors, who operate several types of businesses such as cook shops, clothing stores and salons, among other services.

Some have called for the intervention of Member of Parliament Everald Warmington, but it is understood that the MP doesn't want to get involved, as he believes the matter is the remit of the local governing authority.

Some 35 shops will be directly impacted by this development, aimed at improving the aesthetics and spaciousness of the area, advance security and enhance shopping experience.

While the affected shop owners indicated to Old Harbour News that they are not averse to such modernized plans, they all say they are already deeper in debt because of the forced relocation exercise.

It is a risk they had to take, they say, because it's their only source of income that has been before now destabilized and depleted by the Covid19 pandemic.

Everton Wilks operates a cook shop inherited from his mother who is now ill. It's a business that supported him and his siblings during their childhood years. Today, things are far from rosy, he tells me and the action of the Council will only make their survival harder, he anticipates.

"After all the stress and agony that we have to go through… stress out, spend out… why you never tell us from before se the plan is containers," said Wilks. "Now that is really injustice and hard on us. We are off our feet, because the struggle is on. Covid. Lockdown. Pandemic. You name it, and now this is on us! We can't survive."

Wilks, who hails from Connors district located north of Old Harbour, added: "Now si mi sit down like Alice in Wonderland not knowing where to turn or the next move… it's just rough brethren."

It's a similar story for 33-year-old Mark, who lives in Old Harbour but prefers not to share his full name. to sustain his family, he sells fry chicken and fry fish served with several side orders.

But he hasn't been able to operate for the last two months to fend for his eight-year-old son and fiancé because he had to comply with the dictates of the Council.

So far, he said, he has spent over $150,000 to reconstruct his shop and is determined to restart operations this week even though the new facility is far from complete.

"A di money a beat mi bad why you nuh si mi finish set up," he pointed out after taking a pause from painting the entrance.

"A serious pressure and mi affi a hold it."

According to Mayor Scott, the new development was in the making for some time now. However, the unexpected move by the proprietor of the current bus/taxi park not to renew its contract with the Council, coupled with the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, forced its hand to reassign funds originally earmarked for other projects.

This, the municipality chairman has admitted, naturally affects the operators within the market space.

"But the fact still remains that the vendors wanted to get back on their feet [as quickly as possible]," Scott explained to Old Harbour News in an interview.

"We have met as the municipality and have taken the decision that the fact that these vendors have already erected these shops and because we are on to the Yuletide season, we're not going to remove them. We're going to allow them to remain and operate for, I would say, maybe the end of January," he added.

Vendors will pay more
It's inconceivable that these particular vendors will not pay more under the municipality's infrastructure modernization project for the Old Harbour Market district.

Currently each shop owner pays the corporation approximately $70,000 annually in fees. Under the new regime to come, their yearly payment to the Council is likely to skyrocket by an estimated 300 percent as commercial shop space for rent for containers averages $20,000 per month going by current established market rate. Rates are also determined by shop space as well.

"Will they give us the containers at an affordable rate that poor people can afford it?" asked Wilks.

"Right now as far as I can see a push them want to push wi out of this. Any weh yu tek it is pressure and it's gonna be more. So how are we going to survive?"

Wilks and other vendors we spoke to are also demanding compensation from Council, but that will not come in the form of cash but rather a moratorium, says the Mayor.

"I intend to meet with them again and to have a discussion as to the way forward," he said.

"I did indicate to the vendors that we are going to give them a moratorium. So now it's a matter of looking at the costing and the design and how we are going to do it."

Higglers like Mark views the Mayor's assurance with a tinge of cynicism. 

"That no seem generous,” he said before asking “You know why? You take something that was ours and then you give wi something that's yours and tell us that everything cool for now.”

“But eventually we all know it ago be big problem because none of us know what's going to be the rent fee for those containers," the young man reasoned.

"Right now brethren  is pure headache," Wilks retorted while pointing to the 2016 fire at the market in which they are yet to be compensated despite strong commitments at the time from the Council. "We don't know what to do, we confuse. We need someone to stand by us, we need some representatives to represent us."