By Trudy Simpson, Staff Reporter
Greene
A JAMAICA Chamber of Commerce (JCC) proposal that some vendors be allowed to remain on Princess and Beckford streets downtown Kingston until January 20, 2002 has raised concerns among Kingston and St. Andrew Corporation (KSAC) councillors.
The Chamber made the request in a letter dated Saturday, November 3, addressed to the Local Government Minister and copied to the KSAC.
Town Clerk Errol Greene said councillors were concerned however that allowing vendors to remain on two streets would likely result in others taking over other streets downtown Kingston.
"We are calling a meeting of the committee with the responsibility for it -- the Commercial Services Committee," Mr. Greene said.
The proposal appeared to be a reversal of the recent campaign by the Chamber to get vendors off the streets. It has been urging Government to refurbish the downtown market district and relocate vendors who often crowded the sidewalks and streets.
However, the Chamber asserted yesterday that its call to allow the vendors to remain until January was made because the "window of opportunity" had already passed for this year, to relocate and settle them, especially the larger wholesale sellers and those coming for the Christmas season only.
With Christmas just around the corner, business was crucial and vendors currently downtown would be joined by scores of others coming out to sell only for the Christmas season, a Chamber spokesman said.
"This is not a change in our policy. All it is, is a recommendation toward seeing if we can help with the implementation on a phased basis since the window of opportunity has passed," he told The Gleaner. "We hope to make the Christmas season downtown as smooth and safe as possible."
The next window of opportunity for full scale vendor relocation without big business disruption, would fall in late January and run until just before Easter, according to the Chamber.
Late last month, business people, some of whom are on the Chamber's urban renewal committee, had taken their quest one step further by threatening to lock down the area's business district if action was not taken to clear the streets. The move was averted after Prime Minister P.J. Patterson gave an assurance that the November 4 deadline would be met, and announced that a new company would be in place to oversee the markets.
The refurbishing programme for the markets, for which $20 million was earlier earmarked, included repairs to a variety of properties including the Coronation, Redemption and Jubilee markets as well as the Oxford and Queens malls and the Pearnel Charles and 65 Mall arcades. Also included were the Portmore and rural bus termini, the Kingston Craft and Red Rose markets and the Queen's Annexes.
Meanwhile, days of heavy rains caused by Hurricane Michelle's slow travel through the Caribbean has resulted in delays to completion of repairs ahead of the November 4 deadline under phase one of the project.
Mr. Greene declined to comment on whether a new deadline would be set, stating that Local Government Minister, Arnold Bertram would make a report on that.
"We are almost complete (but) the weather is playing havoc with us. We had concrete trucks come this morning and they had to be standing by. Just as they started to pour, the rain came down but we are continuing the pace nonetheless," said Mr. Greene.
"Everything that was supposed to have been done has been done inside. The only work that is left is about 15 per cent of what is to be done outside. We are hoping to be finished Thursday provided that we have good weather or half way decent weather," he said.
