Yallahs Market to be renovated

Minister of Local Government and Community Development Desmond McKenzie has announced that the St Thomas Municipal Corporation has reclaimed possession of the Yallahs Market and will soon initiate long-awaited renovations.

The announcement was made last Friday during the handover of a new two-bedroom unit under the Indigent Housing Programme in Seaforth, St Thomas. 

Minister McKenzie revealed that the property had previously been leased to a former councillor for over 25 years, during which time it was not operated as a market. This arrangement forced vendors to sell their goods outside the market gates.

“The vendors had to sit outside the gate of the market; [they] can’t enter the market,” McKenzie explained. “We gave a commitment that when the lease expired, we would not extend the lease to any other individual. That lease has expired… the St Thomas Municipal Corporation now has possession of the market.”

McKenzie added that once renovation estimates are finalized, the Ministry will provide the necessary funding to restore the Yallahs Market, allowing vendors to operate inside the market premises once again. “As soon as the estimates are completed, the Ministry will provide the funds to renovate the Yallahs Market so that the vendors can finally go back in the market and ply their trade and be better than they are today,” he said. “It’s a commitment that we made and we are fulfilling that commitment.”