Arcade could replace burnt-out Old Shoes Market shops by Christmas
Published:Saturday | October 21, 2023 | 12:09 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Deputy mayor of Montego Bay, Richard Vernon, has promised that displaced vendors from the Old Shoes Market could have new shops to carry out their businesses in time for the Christmas holidays.
Vernon said that the St James Municipal Corporation (StJMC) will prepare a diagram outlining what the renovated market will look like, including a timeline for the renovation.
The announcement follows a meeting yesterday with displaced vendors who operate in the popular Old Shoes Market on South Street in downtown Montego Bay, St James, who were left counting their losses after a massive fire destroyed their shops last Sunday.
“Now that you say ‘yes’, you are in agreement with this plan, we are going to come back here next week, we are going to put something to you and if you say this is what you are working with, we can realise a quick turnaround in implementing, then you might end up in a shop for Christmas,” Vernon said.
He was responding to a resounding ‘yes’ from the vendors, who accepted a proposal to build out a state-of-the-art arcade at the location.
“Next week we will have a better commitment to say listen, this is the timeline, we can get X and Y by a certain time, and we can implement by a certain time,” the deputy mayor told the entrepreneurs at a meeting inside the Montego Bay Cultural Centre.
According to Vernon, the StJMC is prepared to facilitate and register the burnt-out vendors within spaces designated as vending zones on the streets of Montego Bay with immediate effect.
But given the short window between now and the Christmas holidays, the vendors are clamouring to be allowed to remain in the space using tents so as to cash in on the customary holiday spending.
“We want to get the Christmas to sell in the arcade because you guys have your plan, but sometimes the plan doesn’t work as money takes a long time to come,” a male vendor pleaded.
“If we could only get the Christmas inside the burnt-down arcade, using tents. It will not be easy, but we need to continue our lives,” he said.
The Ministry of Labour and Social Security has promised to provide an emergency grant to help the vendors recoup some of their losses.
Acting head of the St James Police Division, Superintendent Eron Samuels, warned that despite the difficult times vendors are now experiencing after their multimillion-dollar loss, the cops will not tolerate any chaos.
“Even though we have this incident, I want us to ensure that we don’t have a chaotic situation going forward in terms of the locations,” said Samuels, who was in attendance at the meeting.
Continuing, he said, “The police, we are not going to sit back and allow you to run up and down like mad people on the streets. While you are doing your business, please remember that we still have to maintain law and order.”
Last week’s fire destroyed 54 of the 150 shops at the facility.