Popularised in a classic Jamaican folk song, the Linstead Market is famous for its supply of a wide variety of crops and traditionally cheerful atmosphere, but in recent times a darker side of the landmark St Catherine facility has been rearing its ugly head – crime. A flare-up of violence has vendors and patrons feeling fearful.

Two vendors were killed in less than a week at the market in May, and in June more than a dozen vendors lost their stalls to arson – three men were reportedly seen running from the scene after starting the blaze.

When OBSERVER ONLINE visited the market recently, a number of vendors declined to share their thoughts on the violence, with the main reason being fear of retaliation.

But willing to talk, a vendor operating near the market said the tension in the Linstead Market and the surrounding area is palpable.

“The place just tense and stay a way…from the shooting weh round yah,” the 47-year-old fruit vendor, who requested anonymity, said.

Revealing that sales have slowed down because many regular patrons have been staying away from the market, the man said, “Mi fraid fi walk and mi fraid fi buy and mi fraid a everything because everybody fraid fi dem life. People nah move freely because, from shooting gwaan and things tense and people a talk seh people a go get shot and dead, so them must feel a way.”

Another vendor, a 50-year-old woman who sells vegetables, said she is very uncomfortable with the situation.

“To be honest, right now me nuh feel comfortable staying right here because [of] what taking place right now. It’s not a safe place for us. But you know because we have to come out, we just come out,” she said, noting that she has been making a living in the area for more than 15 years.

When asked what she can do to protect herself while going about her business, the mother of five said she only “walk wid Jesus.”

Another vendor selling clothes at the front of the market told OBSERVER ONLINE that she feels nervous at the start of each day, aware of the dangers it could bring.

“Because we don’t know who next and we sit down right here so a sell and anything can happen. But we still have to come out and look our food,” she stated, adding that she has been selling at that spot for over nine years.

The violence at the market is part of a wider crime problem in Linstead that has members of the town’s business community on edge.

Over the past few months, there have been several cases of murder and shootings in Linstead, the most prominent of which was the June slaying of well-known pharmacy operator, 47-year-old Deslan White.

White was killed when, while driving his Honda Fit motorcar along the Jericho main road, he was pounced upon by a gunman in the vicinity of the Jericho Bridge. The gunman opened fire hitting White multiple times, killing the businessman.

READ: Murder of popular pharmacy operator sends shockwaves through Linstead

White’s pharmacy is a short distance from the market. A security guard stationed there told OBSERVER ONLINE that, following White’s murder, he was “very much traumatised.”

The man, who has lived in Linstead for more than 40 years, said it’s not the first time the town and the market in particular has seen an increase in violence.

“To me I grow up into a system expecting all these things. My uncle used to tell me that he’s going to sorry for us because the time will come now when war and all these things take over the place. You going to have family against parents. These young people now, parents spend a lot of money and coming out of school and expecting them to let them do good, [instead] they [are] taking up the drugs, many of them say they don’t want to work,” he said.