Kingston mayor concerned for vendors affected by Ray Ray market fire

 

Mayor of Kingston Andrew Swaby says more than 200 vendors were affected by Tuesday morning's massive fire which destroyed the Oxford Mall Arcade, popularly known as "Ray Ray Ground" market, in downtown Kingston.

 

The fire is the fifth to have affected the market since 2022.

 

Mayor Swaby visited the site of the fire on Tuesday and expressed his concern for the vendors who suffered millions of dollars in losses as a result of the blaze.

 

He stated that technical officers from the Municipal Corporation will be working to have the area cleaned starting Wednesday.

 

"The reason why we haven't started today is because we don't want to take up the garbage, the remnants of the fire and send it to the dump and there's any sparks or so, and cause a different problem. So we have agreed that tomorrow morning we will start and I've have also encouraged them to put themselves into a little organisation where we can have dialogue," he said. 

 

Mayor Swaby said the lost items were not insured.  

 

The cause of the fire is under investigation.

 

Several storage containers that were recently re-stocked with goods were also destroyed in the blaze, which started sometime after 1 o'clock. 

 

Joshua Davis, Superintendent in charge of operations for the Kingston & St. Andrew Division of the Jamaica Fire Brigade, has expressed concern about the frequent fires at the market.

 

Several fire units were dispatched to fight the blaze.