What’s really going on at Paynes Bay market, DLP queries

Democratic Labour Party shadow spokesman on health, Paul Gibson, has called on Government to clear the air on the apparent changes occurring in the area of the Paynes Bay Fish Market.

While speaking to media on Wednesday, Gibson said that though the market was currently closed for health reasons, said to be caused by the dust being creating from the current roadworks being done in the area, there have been whispers within the close-knit community that additional construction work on the coast is in the planning stages.

Gibson said: “One of the concerns of particular interest to me is the fact that this facility behind me, the Paynes Bay Fish Market, has been closed. Now if you are saying it has been closed for environmental reasons that is okay; you don’t want fish with a lot of dust on it.

“However, we have been hearing some rumblings on the ground from residents, [and] we want to make sure the fish market has not been disposed of because this area is the last remaining window to the sea in the St.James, west coast area.

“We are concerned that we are going to be losing another area, window to the sea, to some building, some structure, some hotel [or] some restaurant. We are already seeing some infringement on the parts of some persons putting up structures with water running from the NCF building into their restaurant. Now I don’t know how legal that is, and it is something that needs to be addressed.”

Any removal or drastic change made to the Paynes Bay fishing community would devastate the area’s marine workers, he declared.

“This is the most popular fish market in terms of purchasing fish in this area, and we want to make sure it is up and running, and the livelihoods of fishermen and fisherfolk in this area is maintained at the level it has been before, or even above,” he added.

The health spokesperson, also said residents were concerned with the lack of communication surrounding the ongoing road works in the area. According to him, residents and businesses were initially given an ending date for the project earlier in the year, but after the deadline had been surpassed, no further information was given by the authorities.

“We heard a recommended time of two weeks, but remember the projects [were] supposed to finish earlier in the year, so we are hoping that they hold to that for the sake of the residents,” said Gibson.

“They are very interested in ensuring, that this area is very quickly brought under control in terms of the dust, that the road repairs are finished, and that they can move ahead with normalcy in their lives with transportation, with access to homes, and not with all the intrusions that have been happening from last year.” (SB)