Market meltdown

Jamaica Gleaner | 2025-12-08 | Original Article

Savanna-la-Mar’s storm-ravaged market has once again become the centre of public frustration and political attention as residents and vendors plead for urgent repairs and clarity on its future.

 

The facility, badly damaged during Hurricane Melissa, has pushed many vendors on to the streets, intensified congestion downtown, and reignited a long-standing debate about whether the market should be repaired or relocated.

 

On Wednesday, Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie visited the space where he was met with raw emotions from business owners and vendors who insisted that the market must stay where it has stood for decades.

 

Among the strongest voices was businessman Malik Locke, landlord and owner of a gaming lounge in the town, who openly challenged what he believes is an ongoing push to uproot the market from its historic location. Locke, who said he has watched downtown commerce struggle under post-hurricane conditions, did not hide his frustration.

 

“From Monday to Thursday we cannot survive down here … The only day we have down here is from Friday to Saturday. Every plan they have is how to move the market,” he said, claiming to have spoken with officials from the Westmoreland Chamber of Commerce about involving him and other concerned residents in the drawing up of the market plan. “We don’t want no craft market. We want the market. And we want the market to fix.”

 

Locke speculated that previous government allocations for the market were allegedly never used as intended.

 

“The $50 million that you (McKenzie) give them from before the storm don’t spend because they say the market land is too valuable for the market to be on it. They want to relocate it. All their plans are to relocate Savanna-la-Mar Market.”

 

He added that vendors had been told of a proposed alternative location at Llandilo, a suggestion he said was rejected by nearby business owners themselves.

 

Locke also insisted that instead of relocation, officials should have supported small infrastructure improvements vendors had repeatedly requested.

 

“We beg them to put a simple door right there, at the side of the market, to ease the pressure of the market. They say it can’t happen. Berthel Moore told me personally, he said it can’t happen. All the market needs is a good design and a good plan … over five years (now), (and) it has not happened … Everybody have a plan, it’s how to kill downtown.”

 

According to Locke, business-owners are prepared to help restore the market as long as the government helps them to do so.

 

“I own a piece of property down here on Great George Street. If the market move or anything comes, me can’t pay my $280,000 property tax. So sir, we will wait on them and you to fix the market. We have hands and hearts ready to fix the market. We have a councillor who born and grow here who is willing to fix the market. All we want is help to fix the market.”

 

Standing inside the severely damaged facility on Wednesday, McKenzie acknowledged the deteriorating state of the market and said immediate action was necessary. He reminded residents that relocation had been suggested because of the market’s coastal vulnerability, but stressed that the final decision would be driven by public consensus and not government preference.

 

“My last visit to the market, some funds was allocated to do further work on the market. We did some renovation work on that section of the market, but I’m back today and this is not a pretty sight. I am of the opinion … that the present site of the market, based on the closeness to the sea, poses a challenge.”

 

However, he noted that residents overwhelmingly expressed that the market should remain, and he would abide by that position.

 

“But I’m listening to the majority of you and I have to go by what you say. If the market is relocated, it means a lot of things will be dislocated and the government of Dr Andrew Holness … is not about dislocating people. It is to allow people to strive to develop commerce. And the markets, not just here in Westmoreland, across Jamaica, provide that sort of entrepreneurship to small individuals, to allow them to excel.”

 

With the state of the market, covered in debris, waterlogged and consumed by a stench, McKenzie said cleanup would begin immediately.

 

“I’ve said to the mayor and to the technical team in the ministry, that immediate work must commence in starting to clean out the market. That’s the first thing we have to do, clean out the market. Once we clean out the market, I’m going to encourage those who can find a space to come in, to come off the streets.”

 

He added that no market fees would be collected at this time due to the current conditions and that the Social Development Commission (SDC) would conduct wide consultations before any long-term decision is made.

 

“There can be no decision around collecting market fees at this time, because that is not an option. I have asked the SDC to do a survey… any decision that we are going to take has to be predicated on information from the general population, not just from myself as a minister or the mayor or a group of people sitting in a room.”

 

The minister emphasised that repairs will not be immediate but promised that Westmoreland is now his priority following widespread hurricane devastation.

 

Meanwhile, 80-year-old vendor Monica Foster, said the argument over the relocation feels far removed from her daily struggle to survive outside the broken building.

 

Forced on to the sidewalk with a small cart, she said conditions have been unbearable even before Melissa had done any damage.

 

“(It was) very slow and inconvenient … the market definitely was in a bad state, so people hardly come inside. Because they buy from outside, so we hardly to get a sale on the inside.”

 

However, she said she is optimistic that, following the minister’s visit on Wednesday, sales will pick up for indoor vendors.

 

She said working outdoors has been exhausting and also worries about how she will cope if the market’s current condition is further prolonged.

 

“But it’s rough. It’s not ideal out there. I want to come into the market.”

 

Foster explained that the roof above where her stall was originally situated was where one section had been destroyed.

 

“The roof gone and the water coming in. And then they spent money to build that part and nobody’s going in there,” she said, referring to a newer building to the back of the market.

 

She said the current state of the market is heartbreaking.

 

“It’s terrible and it needs fixing. Because mostly old people are in here and they have to take up their things from outside. So we need it to fix. And if they would even clean it up. You know, clean it up. But they’re not doing one thing.”

 

Foster said she doesn’t believe the sea will pose a real threat to the market, even though she has watched other buildings like her church relocate because of similar concerns, and having lived in downtown Savanna-la-Mar for years.

 

She also believes that the market should remain in downtown Savanna-la-Mar because of the strong sense of familiarity it holds for generations.

 

“When I was a child, the market was right here. So moving the market now is a big problem.”

 

mickalia.kington@gleanerjm.com

 

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