Fire destroys sections of Kingston Craft Market

In the wee hours of yesterday morning, fire engulfed a section of the craft market in downtown Kingston.

While no one was hurt in the blaze, 18 shops were damaged, resulting in about 28 vendors suffering losses.

The Jamaica Fire Brigade and the Corporate Communications Unit of the Jamaica Constabulary Force theorise that faulty electrical wires are to be blamed for the fire.

After the cause of the fire was determined, clean-up operations began in earnest to have the market back in full operation as quickly as possible.

"It was with shock and sorrow that the MSME Alliance learnt about the fire, which effectively destroyed the livelihood of so many of our members this morning," president of the Micro, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Alliance (The MSME Alliance), Donovan Wignal, said.

In the meantime, the Urban Development Corporation has been providing grief counselling to the vendors.