Ministry’s engineer being blamed for Kitty Market delays

Mar 15, 2018 News

File photo: Vendors protesting outside the Kitty Market in January

An engineer from the Ministry of Communities is being blamed for the slow pace at which the Kitty Market project is progressing.
Councillor Oscar Clarke, who is head of City Hall’s Finance Committee, said that he visited the market recently and was told by the contractor that the works are being delayed because an engineer from the Ministry has instructed that external works be completed before the internal works are done.
“Well if a contractor has a job, I don’t know that the contractor ought to be told not to do work inside when he can do work both outside and inside. And if he does that, he can have the project completed ahead of time at less cost. But this contractor is being held up because he is being told otherwise by the engineer who is overseeing the project,” Clarke told the council meeting on Monday.
The project which is being executed by the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has been faced with numerous delays due to cash flow among other issues.
Central Government intervened to rescue the rehabilitation of the Kitty Market when it awarded a contract of $25.1 million to BML Construction Services. This essentially took the remaining project works out of the hands of the City Engineer’s Department that started rehabilitation project on February 12, 2016 at a cost of $250 million.
“What is happening here? Is there is some deliberate attempt to have this project held up? The contractor said to me ‘my work is being held up…I should have started from the beginning on both external and internal works…now I am almost completed with the external works, I can’t start the internal works. I am still being held up. I have to send people home’. That’s a serious matter,” Clarke concluded.
The M&CC had been adamant that preserving the architectural design of the 19th century structure, as well as ensuring that the original vendors are not displaced were among the priorities for the municipality.
It was stated that the rehabilitated Kitty Market would feature a traditional health centre, offices for payment of rates and taxes, and a space for community councillors. Shortly after the works started, the Council encountered difficulties. The work was reportedly stymied by the inability to procure materials and also because the Council had owed contractors.
M&CC Councillor, Khame Sharma, has continually raised questions about the completion date for the project, which was announced to be completed last year.
Mayor Patricia Chase-Green has staved off criticisms over the delays, noting that the reconstruction of the market was being financed mainly by the M&CC, and that works would have continued as funds become available.
City Engineer, Colvern Venture, has promised to provide a progress report to councillors. He has not indicated when works will be completed under phase one of the project.
The project commenced two years ago, and vendors are growing frustrated over the temporary accommodations they have had to endure. In January, vendors picketed outside the market for better conditions.

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