KSAMC promises speedy repair following Papine market fire

Mayor of Kingston Senator Delroy Williams says the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation will be moving quickly to make repairs to the Papine market following a fire which occurred between late Wednesday night and early Thursday morning.

Williams says he is grateful that the damage was contained to one section of the market and that there was no loss of life. 

“The priority for us at the KSAMC at this point is relocating the displaced vendors. About 15 vendors were affected by the fire and our engineers are working assiduously to ensure that we can reorganise the space to accommodate them so they can earn an honest living,” Williams said. 

The Kingston mayor visited the site this morning along with Member of Parliament for the area Fayval Williams and councillors Andrew Bellamy, Duane Smith, Venesha Phillips and Jermaine Hyatt. 

Williams notes that the Papine market was one of the markets earmarked by Minister of Local Government Desmond McKenzie for refurbishing to the tune of $48 million. 

“We have been designing and planning upgrades for the Papine market to make it a more commercially welcoming space, so this [fire] is most unfortunate however it will underscore the urgent need for the development to take place.

“We are on the final stages of repairs and improvements on the Red Rose Fish Market and the Jubilee Market. It has been an area of focus for the KSAMC with other markets to follow. We have been increasing security and one system we have been considering is the installation of fire-sprinklers given the frequency of these fires,” the mayor explained. 

The Redemption Market, Ray Ray Ground Market, and the Kingston Craft Market were all afflicted by fire in 2017.

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