Rehabilitation of Kitty Market underway

Sep 21, 2013 News

Rehabilitation of the Kitty Market is on the main agenda of the Mayor and City Council, (MCC) for the restoration of Georgetown.
Deputy Mayor, Patricia Chase-Greene, who spearheaded a tour of the city markets yesterday, told media operatives of the plan.
“We were informed by the fire department that the Kitty Market is a hazard that should be closed…We are in the process of seeking assistance from the government and other interested persons as we will be advertising for tenders.
“We are currently taking steps to temporarily relocate the vendors of the Kitty Market; the city engineer is looking at a map for alternatives to temporarily place the vendors, while market is under

The current state of the Kitty Market.

construction.”
The Deputy Mayor explained that preserving the architectural design of the market and ensuring that the original vendors are not displaced is of chief concern to the municipality, as these are the main conditions of the contract under which the market will be rehabilitated.
“Whosoever acquires the contract to rebuild the Kitty Market will have to maintain the heritage structure of the building as well as give place to the original vendors, since the people of Kitty have long stated that they are not prepared to do away the operations of the Kitty Market.”
Kaieteur News understands that the city council is looking to source private sector investors.
“We are cultivating a mixed approach in relation to procuring an investor for the rehabilitation of the market. The involvement of the private sector is crucial, since we are looking to lease the market to a private investor or maybe even selling it to an investor as long as the conditions of the contract are upheld,” said MCC Public Relations Officer, Royston King.
However Vice chairman of the MCC finance committee, Oscar Clarke, was unable to give an estimated cost for the rehabilitation of the market.
However, at a press conference yesterday, Local Government Minister, Norman Whittaker, told reporters that a group of private investors had signaled interests in rehabilitating the Kitty Market, but this is not currently on the Ministry’s agenda.
No more promises
Meanwhile, earlier yesterday, the Kitty Market action committee called for immediate redress to their place of business. Security and safety are among the main concerns of the stall holders.
The committee said that “the market is not the result of natural disasters. Its state is due to the willful neglect by the council and Government over the last 15 years.”
Vendors said that over the years, there have been countless empty promises made to them by a number of officials, for the allocation funds, for the repairs of the historic building.
“On every occasion that the print and electronic media visited the market we took advantage of the opportunity offered, to draw attention to the continuing deterioration of the market and the extent to which it has negatively impacted our ability,” one stall holder, Tacuma Ogunseye, explained.
The committee member said that there were many occasions that the council budgeted for the repairs of the market but little or no money spent.
He explained that the council eventually stopped including the market in its budgetary estimates for repairs.
Ogunseye said that the government has a greater responsibility, since he believes that the International Development Bank (IDB) made funds available for the rehabilitation project under phase two of the Georgetown rehabilitation project, in 2007.
“It is strongly our view that both the City Council and Central Government have a moral obligation to rehabilitate the market,” Ogunseye said.
Meanwhile during a tour of the Stabroek and Bourda markets, city officials addressed the garbage pile up.
At Stabroek Market Square, it was noted that at least 29 tons of garbage is collected daily. Heaps of garbage were evident at route 42 minibus and car parks. Garbage contractor, Morse Archer of Dartmouth Skips Rental explained that while MCC workers are responsible for the collection of solid waste, it is their duty to compact and adequately dispose of it.
The Deputy Mayor promised to meet with the director of the solid waste after the tour, to ensure adequate supervision of MCC workers is available to prevent any future garbage pile up.
At Bourda, it was observed that the area was much cleaner than the other market places.
However, the garbage contractor noted that he has not been paid for his work since last April. The council owes him money.