Market vendors to pay for their own electricity, says McKenzie
Published:Tuesday | June 24, 2025 | 12:09 AMAlbert Ferguson/Gleaner Writer
WESTERN BUREAU:
Local Government Minister Desmond McKenzie says the days of municipal corporations footing the electricity bills of vendors operating in municipal markets are over. Going forward, he said, vendors will be required to secure their own electricity by direct engagement with the Jamaica Public Service (JPS).
According to McKenzie, 90 per cent of the 28 fires that have occurred in public markets across the island in the last six years have been linked to electricity issues, such as poor connection and illegal extraction of electricity from the JPS network.
“I am saying to the mayor (Savanna-la-Mar’s Danree Delancy) that anybody in this market (Negril Fruits and Vegetable Market) who requires electricity must engage the Jamaica Public Service Company by virtue of using the same way they get credit on the phone,” said McKenzie, who was speaking to the media following the recent meeting he had with the Westmoreland Municipal Corporation and the Negril Chamber of Commerce and Industry, to finalise plans for the Negril Fruits and Vegetable Market.
“That is the kind of provision that will be made in the market for electricity. The municipality cannot undertake the cost of electricity when vendors bridge the light, steal the current, and when the bill is to be paid it falls on the local authorities,” added McKenzie.
McKenzie said vendors who are desirous of electricity at the market will be required to utilise JPS’s Pay As You Go prepaid metering system, which allows customers to pay for electricity upfront, as is the case with prepaid credit for cell phones.
Based on McKenzie’s plan, all new and rehabilitated markets, including Buff Bay and Port Antonio in Portland, as well as Spaldings in Manchester, will feature a natural roofing system for improved lighting and will include individual vendor responsibility for electricity.
“I’ve already spoken with the JPS, where they will go in and engage the vendors,” McKenzie said. “The vendors will buy electricity on credit. So, they’re going to give me $5,000 worth of credit for electricity. It will not be the kind of electricity where they put on a transformer [and] run a wire into the market.”
In speaking to the issue of the long-term upkeep of market infrastructure, McKenzie admitted to past shortfalls but insisted that things are now changing.
“Well, I can say without fear of contradiction, the four new markets that we had built – Clark’s Town, Port Maria, Hopewell, and Buff Bay – all have a maintenance component,” he said.
McKenzie also noted that 80 per cent of the island’s 37 public markets are more than a century old and urged mayors and municipal authorities to play their part in ensuring their proper upkeep.