OPPOSITION Spokesman on Local Government, Desmond McKenzie has come out in support of the St Ann market vendors who have been protesting the hiked fees being proposed by the St Ann Parish Council.

McKenzie, who toured the Ocho Rios and St Ann’s Bay markets last Friday, said several parish councils were imposing austerity measures and this is something he intends to address during his sectoral debate presentation.

“All of the parish councils are imposing some kinds of draconian measures, especially on market vendors,” McKenzie said, adding that this is not a case of balancing people’s lives, but balancing the books.

McKenzie’s tour of the Ocho Rios Market coincided with a demonstration by the vendors over the proposed increase in weekly fees which become effective on June 1.

Following his tour of the Ocho Rios Market, the opposition spokesman also expressed concern about the condition the vendors at the Ocho Rios Market are forced to operate under.

“If I was in a position, I would order the Public Health Department to close this market, because this market is not fit for human beings, especially vendors or people buying because this poses a severe health problem,” he said.

He said some of the $8.5 million spent by the Government for a delegation presently in Africa could have been used to improve the conditions at the facility.

McKenzie said he was also appalled that sections of the market which were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy, last October, had not yet been repaired because the facility is uninsured.

McKenzie said the St Ann Parish Council needs to be considerate when proposing fees based on the conditions existing in the market.

“The opposition is not opposed to an increase in fees because it is necessary,” he said, noting however that the proposed increases were unreasonable.

“You can’t move something from $500 to $1500 in one book; that is just not practical,” he further argued.

The opposition, he said, has become concerned as there are some cases where fees have been increased by as much as 600 per cent.

McKenzie said he would be meeting with the Minister of Local Government to discuss the matter, as regulations do not allow parish councils to unilaterally increase fees for services.

“There is a protocol that has to be observed where an application has to be made first to the minister of local government,” he explained. The council, he said, would then have the authority to proceed if it is not given a response in 30 days.

“It is apparent that no consultation has been done with the minister of local government,” McKenzie added.

Mayor of St Ann’s Bay Desmond Gilmore said the proposed increases were authorised by the ministry.

Gilmore is ,however, expected to meet with representatives from the three major markets in the parish, next week, to discuss the fee increase.

Meanwhile, the mayor said, while he is not promising that there will be no increase in the fees, the council is prepared to sit with the vendors and possibly reduce the amount by which fees are to be increased.

He is expected to meet with representatives from the St Ann’s Bay market today and those from Brown’s Town and Ocho Rios on Tuesday.

The mayor commented on the matter after speaking with vendors in Ocho Rios last Friday during their protest. He, however, refused to tour the facility that day because of what he described as “the high level of hostility”.