$178M estimated to complete Phase 2 of Parika Market rehabilitation

Jul 20, 2022 News

Kaieteur News – The Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development will soon take on phase two of the Parika Market rehabilitation project.

The contract for phase two which is estimated to cost $178,830,575, according to the Ministry’s engineer, was opened yesterday at the National Procurement and Tender Administration Board (NPTAB) office. The project attracted two contractors, S. Maraj Contracting Service who submitted a bid of $243,349,975 and A.Nazier & Son Contracting & General Supplies who placed a bid of $147,496,305.

The rehabilitation project of the market began last year when a contract was signed between the Ministry and VAL’S Construction to complete phase one of the project. The contract which was signed in mid July last year was worth $29.2 million. At that contract signing it was noted that the project would see the construction of 1000sq ft of roof with translucent sheets that would allow natural light to illuminate the market; a 300-foot concrete and steel fencing would be constructed, and the establishment of a four-chamber sanitary facility. Major works were also slated to be done on the electrical distribution system.

The present state of the Parika Market. (Robin Salim photo)

It was reported that when the works on the market are completed, vendors would be able to operate under better and improved conditions. Though it is unclear, the percentage of works completed at the market, a stall holder recently wrote a letter in this publication calling for the President to intervene in addressing the present state of the facility.

According to the stall holder, Robin Salim who has a gold business there for a number of years, the market is currently in a deplorable condition which is affecting the operations of some businesses. Salim said in his letter, “The market has been in a deplorable state for some years now and several persons who own stalls were forced to close their businesses. The authorities are allowing persons to ply their trade on the road to the detriment of the persons who operate inside the market. This has resulted in several persons going out of business over the years.”

He noted that the many visits authorities made they have promised that they will rebuild the market and bring back some order in the operations of the market. “It is now some ten months since they started the works to fix the market and to date only some posts and frame of the roof have been constructed,” he mentioned. The man described that currently, the roofs of several stalls are leaking and the market is “like a ghost town as shoppers are not coming in due to persons occupying the roadways.”

Salim added that he and others have made several complaints to government ministers about the problems but since then no form of action has been taken to address the issue. “The President has been very proactive to solve the problems of persons in various communities across Guyana, but he has not been afforded the opportunity to visit the Parika Marketing Centre for some years now. Please, Mr President, businesses are suffering and we are hoping that a solution could be found soon,” Salim appealed.