BUFF BAY, Portland — An additional $11 million has been earmarked to add haberdashery shops to the newly opened Buff Bay Market, pushing the total spend on the facility to almost $70 million.

According to Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie, the shops will be added to the rear of the building, which was opened last Friday.

“Those works will commence shortly, because the additional funds of the $11 million have been signed off and will be made available,” he said.

The minister also announced that for the next five months vendors will pay no fees to use Buff Bay Market, an incentive to bring them into the facility being touted as the blueprint for future markets across Jamaica.

Work began in 2016 and the minister emphasised, during the opening last Friday, that the market is now totally new and “ready for business”. It has come a long way, McKenzie said, from what he saw five years ago — a venue that lacked sanitary facilities and was “unappealing”. He said it was clear they had to redo the entire thing.

“It makes no sense… you tear off the old label and put on a new label but the inside remains the same… We made a decision, and I must commend the Member of Parliament [for Portland Western Daryl Vaz] as he made available from his CDF [Constituency Development Fund] $5 million towards the renovation of the market,” the minister said.

“I am glad we took that decision because what we have here now is not a renovated market but a brand new market built from the ground up. There is nothing old that has been painted over,” he added.

McKenzie noted that Buff Bay Market will be the first one built by local government to have security cameras. That will cost $2 million. There are also measures in place to manage electricity use and curtail illegal connections.

“We will be using energy-saving mechanisms as a means of reducing the price of electricity [used by] the vendors who will be operating in the market, the butchers, and those who are selling ground provisions and clothing,” said the minister.

“We can control the flow of electricity, and the market is equipped so that nobody can run a light, play music, without having some level of control. JPS [Jamaica Public Service] has a new system that, if you want $1,000 worth of light for the week the market is equipped if you want that amount of electricity; we will be able to control. We are not depriving you of having electricity,” he stressed.

McKenzie noted that 98 per cent of fires in markets across Jamaica have resulted from illegal electricity

“The Government, the local authority, cannot afford to sustain the illegal connection in the markets. That is why this Buff Bay Market has the features to get your light in a controlled fashion. The new Buff Bay Market will be a template for all markets for the local government to build,” he said.

The market has 48 stalls for the sale of fruits and vegetables, five stalls for butchers, six shops for haberdashery, and the stalls for grocery are expected to be completed shortly. It also has rainwater harvesting tanks and new sanitary conveniences.

McKenzie urged vendors to use the facility instead of plying their wares on the streets.

“We know the struggles you have been going through for the last six years. We can boast about our track record when it comes to markets. Since 2016 we have built about six brand new markets in the country. Markets play a significant role in the lifeline of the country,” he said.

“We expect that in the next five years every parish will have a new market or an improved market because this Government cares. Vendors are important to the livelihood of Jamaica and we must show the kind of respect by providing the facilities that will enable the persons to do the things that they want to do. I am asking the vendors to take good care of this facility in an orderly fashion. This is a state-of-the-art market in this town of Buff Bay and you must all be proud of it and care for it. Treat it well,” McKenzie urged.