Over 50 fish vendors, who ply their fresh produce along the bustling downtown Kingston shopping district, officially relocated to the Red Rose Fish Market today (December 6), as the upgrading works undertaken by the Jamaican Government are complete.

Mayor of Kingston Delroy Williams, in his remarks at the official reopening ceremony on Monday, thanked vendors and the wider public for their patience in finishing the project, which commenced in 2017.

According to Mayor Williams, the market’s reopening is one of several major projects happening across the city, citing the recent renovation of the Papine Market in St Andrew and the upcoming reopening of the nearby Jubilee Market.

Spearheaded by the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) to the tune of J$43 million, the Red Rose Fish Market was one of Kingston’s most underutilised commercial spaces, with a 22 per cent registration rate in January 2017.

For years, the structure which housed the market and its vendors fell into disrepair—pushing the vendors to begin selling their seafood products on the street, creating a public health hazard.

Many citizens, shoppers and vendors alike, complained of the foul odours wafting up from the intersection, a situation made worse whenever it rained heavily.

More than four years later, the Rose Lane and Heywood Street-based market has reopened its doors with over 50 vendor stalls, secure storage areas, suitable parking facilities, public sanitation as well as modern sinks with running water and plumbing for the vendors’ convenience.

Mayor Williams and other high-ranking members of the Kingston and St Andrew Municipal Corporation (KSAMC) met with fish vendors last week to discuss the terms of their relocation.

At the meeting, the vendors expressed appreciation for finally getting a designated space to operate and gave the KSAMC assurances they would play their part in the refurbished market’s maintenance.

Williams, who also serves as Government Senator, said that more than 150 vendors will be relocated from the streets of downtown Kingston upon completion of the Jubilee Market, which he added is in its “final stages”.