BLACK RIVER, St Elizabeth — Vendors who ply their wares at the Black River Market are hoping that plans for the coastal town will be fast-tracked and include a rebuild of the facility.

However, the vendors are adamant that they want the facility to be rebuilt at its current location amid announcements from the Government of climate-resilient plans to redevelop Black River.

The market was one of scores of buildings destroyed during the passing of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa one year ago.

For now the vendors, who are exposed to the elements and are without electricity, charge that they have been left on their own.

“If we don’t have the tarpaulin we will be soaking wet. We have to make preparations for ourselves. No one cares about us, because since the storm I don’t see a soul come in here and ask how things are? What we lost? We stand on our own,” one vendor who identified herself as Dorothy told the Jamaica Observer last Friday.

Vendor Jean Smith sitting at her stall in the Black River Market last Friday. (Photo: Garfield Robinson)

Another vendor Jean Smith, who has been selling in the market for the past 17 years, said the downturn in economic activities in the town since Melissa is having a ripple effect on them.

“It is really rough. It is just from hand to mouth. My home was blown away. I lost everything and up to now I haven’t gotten any help. I am trying to rebuild my home in Westmoreland,” she said while asking for the Government to give a timeline for its plans for Black River.

“Well, if they could come back and build back the town even better than it was before that would be nice. Sales are very slow. I have to just sit here and there will be a few customers.

“Before Melissa we had a nice market where we could relax and not have to worry about the rain, but as soon as it gets overcast we have to start looking up and we have our tarpaulin to cover our belongings,” said Smith.

For dressmaker Lauren Allen, making a livelihood has been much harder without electricity in the market.

“Everybody in the market needs help. We need electricity here. Now I have to do everything at home, all my sewing at home and then bring the items to the market. We would like to get an update as to when the market will be rebuilt,” Allen told the
Observer.

Ann-Marie Davis, who has been a vendor in the Black River Market for more than 35 years, shared a similar sentiment.

“Life is going on, but business is bad. People in Black River are still out of work. We are here on the market compound without an actual facility. Here is the market and it doesn’t make sense to carry it to [communities on the outskirts of Black River] like Luana or Brompton. This is where the market should stay, because here so is the town,” said Davis.

“By 6:00 pm I have to close up, because there is no light here. Other vendors leave here from 5:00 pm,” added Davis.

Claudette Allwood also shared her frustration of the inconvenience of no shelter in the market.

“We need the market right here,” argued Allwood as she charged that if it is relocated to Luana Black River will not have a market.