VIEWPOINTS
The Constant Spring Market Vendors by Rev Dr Garnett Roper
Dr Garnett Roper is the President of the Jamaica Theological Seminary (JTS). He earned his PhD in Theology at The University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, and his subject of research is the Development of a Caribbean Public Theology.
bit of real estate is too expensive to park cars, it “ This is too expensive for a hairdressing parlour to afford.
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An external view of the entrance to the Constant Spring Market in St Andrew. Photo by Marlon Reid via loopjamaica.
regard the fight for the vendors of the Constant Spring Market (CSM) who were eventually dispossessed and evicted as one of the most consequential struggles in a long ministry. There was no natural affinity between my work and the vendors of the CSM, when the saga first began. One might say, I rather stumbled upon it. The Government had signed a USD21M contract with the Chinese Engineering Company (CHEC) to re-construct three major corridors in the City of Kingston. Those corridors included the Mandela Highway, which was being widened to become a six-lane highway, the Portia Simpson Miller Square to Half Way Tree (via Hagley Park Road) corridor and the Old Stony Hill Road to Dunrobin Avenue (via Constant Spring Road) corridor. The project was designed by the previous political administration (PNP), the financing was also secured by them, from the China Exim bank. The modernising the road infrastructure as well as running sewer main, renewing the public utilities infrastructure (including water, electricity and fibre optic cables) was an idea whose time had come. There was no gainsaying the fact that this was a badly needed project, for the sake of the modernisation and the increase of economic efficiency of the Kingston Metropolitan Region (KMR). And one might say the project therefore enjoyed bi-partisan support. The issues that arose therefore had to do with the implementation of the project and the choices made that left in its wake as casualties and collateral damage, and left behind many of the people at the base of the population. In the first place, the Government sought to implement the reconstruction of the three corridors, simultaneously and with that caused overwhelming dislocation and traffic nightmares. As the Government calculated it, this was a minor inconvenience that will be soon forgotten once the reconstruction was completed and the benefits are enjoyed. The second issue had to do with the perceived lack of consultation and the lack of the provision of timely and needed information. The approach was a “take it or leave it” one. It has been suggested that this approach allowed the Government the freedom to bargain tough with landowners from whom easements needed to be purchased, without being distracted by public glare or collective action. The most egregious outcomes from the reconstruction projects were the economic and social re-engineering of the City and its resultant demographic shifts in the hue of those that owned businesses along the corridors. Almost without exception by the time the project was completed, marginal and small businesses and vendors had suffered irreparable financial damage. The corridors were widened to become four-lane dual carriageways with massive concrete medians between the traffic in either direction. Businesses without adequate parking on site (which are invariable small businesses) were forced to close or to relocate. Perhaps, the most consistent casualties were vendors who ply their wares along these corridors. This is the context in which the treatment meted out to the vendors in the Constant Spring Market is to be assessed.
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INSiGHT | February 2020
