KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Urban Development Corporation (UDC) has indicated that the Kingston Craft Market is to be reopened once the Jamaica Fire Brigade completes its examination of the facility following this morning’s fire.

Once it is reopened, the craft market will continue its regular operating hours Monday to Saturday 9:00 am to 5:00 pm and Wednesdays at 9:00 am to 4:00 pm, the UDC said in a release.Meanwhile, the corporation said it met with vendors this afternoon after approximately 2000 square feet of the market’s eastern section was destroyed, resulting in the destruction of 18 shops.It advised however, that no one was injured in the incident and no damage was done to the remaining 107 shops.The fire, which began approximately 2:35 am, was contained by units from the Jamaica Fire Brigade preventing further loss to the other shops in the complex.The UDC said it is putting in place recovery measures such as clean-up operations, grief counselling, business continuity initiatives and inventory storage.The corporation is also working in partnership with the authorities of the Jamaica Fire Brigade and the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation and has had dialogue with the Jamaica Vendors and Higglers Association and the Kingston Craft Market executive.It urged that support is welcomed from the public and private sector as clean up and restoration efforts continue, adding that an assessment is being carried out to fully ascertain the value of the damage.The corporation further stated that the Kingston Craft Market building, which is fully insured, has benefited under the redevelopment plans for downtown Kingston from rehabilitative works including the removal and replacement of the existing roof, refurbishing of bathrooms, painting, landscaping and the upgrading of a rainwater disposal system.It said the redevelopment of downtown Kingston and Port Royal is aligned with the Vision 2030 Jamaica national development plan.