Development plan being drafted for MoBay market
Published:Monday | February 27, 2012 | 12:00 AM
Barrington Flemming, Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
CENTRAL ST JAMES Member of Parliament Lloyd B. Smith last Friday said he would be seeking an urgent meeting with the St James Parish Council and the administrators of the Charles Gordon market to discuss the problem-plagued municipal facility.
"It will be a fact-finding meeting to get a full understanding of the issues to be tackled to see how best we can come up with the appropriate solutions," said Smith. "As you know, the Charles Gordon Market has a multiplicity of problems; there is the question of security, the problem of garbage collection, the general appearance of the place and other issues."
"It will take some serious effort to have these matters resolved, and I am hoping that I can get the input of the relevant ministries and agencies, as well as the St James Parish Council, that is in fact the principal stakeholders," continued Smith.
Meanwhile, Montego Bay Mayor Councillor Charles Sinclair told The Gleaner that a development plan is being drafted for the market to have it revamped into a facility that will become an attraction, as are other markets internationally.
Sinclair said the title for one of a number of parcels of land, which the parish council owns at Bogue Lands, is now into the hands of the secretary manager, but said the council was awaiting Cabinet approval before the property can be sold. The sale of the land would release approximately J$40 million to the council, which would be enough to effect repairs to the facility.
The mayor further noted that the council has other lands at Bogue which, when jointly valued, would net the council as much as J$400 million.