Residents of the Portmore municipality will receive a long awaited infrastructure that they have been calling for, for the past couple of years, a commercial market.

The Portmore Municipal Council and the Urban Development Corporation (UDC) forged a deal for the lease acquisition of 2.89 acres of land to construct a market at the current site where the temporary market is located in the Portmore Town Centre.

Newly elected Mayor, Keith Hinds said that approximately 20 or 30 vendors currently occupy the location at the town centre. While admitting that the market has been a "contentious issue", he said that the people of Portmore will be proud of the finished product. "It will be a state-of-the-art market to attract even visitors from Kingston," he said. "It's gonna be nice."

He said the market will be solely for market produce, including meat and ground provisions. He said every attempt will be made to keep clothing out of the market.

The UDC is set to contribute technical and architectural design skills as well as support in the area of Project Management. Public and private partnerships will provide funding. This is yet to be finalised.

Construction on the market will begin in the first quarter of 2008 and is expected to be completed within 18 months.