Minister of Local Government and Community Development, Hon. Desmond McKenzie, says funds will be made available to refurbish the Santa Cruz Market in St. Elizabeth in order to better address the needs of vendors and buyers.
“The Mayor (Derrick Sangster) has asked for some funds to start some remedial work,” he told journalists after a tour of the facility on February 14.
“I am going to make those funds available, but at the end of the day, I need to get a programme that is going to speak about how we treat the market,” he said.
He explained that the programme will identify the shortcomings of the market and must have the input of all the relevant stakeholders, including vendors.
“One of the things that we have done successfully across the country is to have the vendors form themselves into associations that sit with the various municipal corporations and talk about the various issues. I am putting it to the Mayor and suggesting that this ought to be the way to go,” the Minister said.
In the meantime, Mayor Sangster shared that he plans to meet with all the relevant staff at the municipality in short order to put together a plan to address some immediate concerns at the market.
“I am meeting with them to put a plan together as to what we are going to do now as immediate steps to begin to turn this thing around and bring some order back into the market,” he said.
