KINGSTON, Jamaica — Member of Parliament for Westmoreland Western, Morland Wilson, says some $75 million has been allocated to construct a fruit and vegetable market in the resort town of Negril.

According to Wilson, stakeholders in the constituency have been clamouring for the facility for more than 30 years.

“I am pleased that having toured Negril recently the Honourable Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, Desmond McKenzie, has set aside $75 million for the construction of the Negril Fruits and Vegetable Market,” Wilson said on Thursday during his maiden presentation in the State of the Constituency Debate in the House of Representatives.

“There was a need to have the soil tested and the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation, who will benefit from market fees, failed to cover the cost,” he stressed. 

He lauded members of the Negril Chamber of Commerce who volunteered and paid the cost to test the soil, which forms part of the requirements for final approval, ground-breaking and construction, according to the Westmoreland Western MP.                             

At present, the absence of the facility has resulted in vendors plying their goods in less than desirable conditions on a private property in the town.

Wilson expressed hope that construction for the much-needed facility will commence by the end of the year.

The Westmoreland Western MP also disclosed that some $60 million will be spent shortly to rehabilitate roadways from Locust Tree to Bath Mountain, Town Head to Blackness, and Grange Hill to Glasgow, which are in a deplorable state.

He noted that measures have recently been put in place to minimise the frequency of motor vehicle crashes on the Norman Manley Boulevard, as he blamed the construction of concrete medians, which were constructed more than 10 years ago to reduce speeding, for many of the mishaps.

“Since taking office as MP I have corrected the problem by having the National Works Agency install rumble strips replacing the concrete medians. To this end we are saving more lives because there have not been any accidents or fatalities along that roadway,” he said.

“In fact, the new measure has been so successful to the point where calls are now being made for rumble strips to be installed on the West End Road and along the Nonpariel roadway.”

He noted that phase one of the long-awaited sidewalk on West End road in Negril, which stakeholders have been lobbying for almost 30 years, is near completion.

The project, he added, includes paving of sections of the roadway and installing of new water mains leading to West End by the National Water Commission.