Latest update November 18th, 2024 1:00 AM
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Deteriorating stelling places vendors at risk
One of the many plans that are loose at the stelling
The lives and livelihood of several vendors who operate stalls on the Mackenzie wharf are now under threat as several wooden planks that serve as the walkway, have deteriorated. One vendor almost fell into the river after one of the floor planks broke under her, two weeks ago.
According to the woman, she was cleaning the area in front of her stall, when the plank broke.
“Is me two hands dem hold me up, because I woulda fall straight in the river; and after I left hanging is me husband and other stall holders come and assisted me up.
“Right now I in severe pain, because me two hands had to tek all me weight.”
Other vendors are adamant that it is about time that the Town Council, under whose purview the markets falls, does something about the deteriorating wharf.
‘Right now people don’t want to come here to shop, because they’re afraid that they will fall in the river. Almost all the floor boards at the back here rotten; we have to be careful how we walking. And the fencing at the side, that and all gone bad. The mesh rotten out, so it’s very unsafe, especially for children– and they love to come at the back here,” one vendor lamented.
Other vendors lamented that the stalls do not have adequate coverage from the elements, hence the early deterioration of the flooring.
“Even if they put brand new floor, and they ain’t cover this place properly is the same thing gon happen, and we gon be right back to square one,” one man pointed out.
Officials from the municipality visited the wharf after the near tragedy, and promised the affected vendors that an alternative vending site would be allocated to them temporarily while rehabilitation is done to the wharf.
However to date that has not been done.
Interim management committee Chairman, Orrin Gordon, has said that every effort is being made to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.
Gordon lamented that the wharf facility which was constructed under the Urban Development Programme some five years ago at a cost of more than $50 M, should not have deteriorated so soon. There are 52 stalls on the wharf, and the money did not cover, electrical installation.
He pointed out that the flooring which was to be done with three-inch Greenheart slabs, was done with some other hard wood, which does not have the durability as greenheart- hence the early deterioration.
Gordon said out that the Council which has a maintenance fund, often finds it extremely difficult to execute rehabilitation works on time, because approval to use these funds has to come from the Ministry, and such approvals usually take an inordinately long time.
“By the time such approvals are given, costs escalate, and there is even more deterioration, which makes a situation that was already bad, even worse!” he stressed.
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