Conditions at the Kitty Market continue to deteriorate and no set plan has been identified for its restoration, years after proposals were made, according to Tacuma Ogunseye.
Within the past few months, occupancy within the market has declined from fifty to thirty percent, Ogunseye, one of its stallholders, told Stabroek News in a recent interview. He also bemoaned the fact that the market has been on the decline for some “ten years now.” He said its survival is tied to a timely restoration and opined that things are likely to get worse, given the lack of interest shown in the market.
Ogunseye said Kitty is likely to be a strategic spot in a few years and could be a hub between the central area in the city and the East Coast. The Kitty Market could be seen as a prime spot for a new modern complex, he continued, while adding that “some people probably want us to leave so they could move in.” However, he stressed that many stallholders are not going anywhere, since the market and the area “means something to us.”
Ogunseye said too that the market belongs to the community and expressed confidence that residents and stallholders are prepared to fight for it.
Ogunseye observed that while the market falls within the budgetary allocation of the City Council, its restoration is solely dependent on a commitment at the government level. “Government is repairing markets across the country, but Kitty market remains in a state of disrepair,” he said.
Kitty Market has around 155 stalls in and around the market and, according to Ogunseye, repeated representations have been made to the Council and government about the state of the market. He said the Council’s financial troubles have since ruled it out, and he noted that stallholders are still hoping the government will address the situation at the market.
Some stallholders operate at the market daily, but the majority of them turn out at weekends.
Ogunseye would open his stall “from time to time.” He said that many vendors have to supplement their income by other means, since selling at the market is no longer profitable. “In economic terms, the market is not viable but many continue to hold out because the stalls are important to us, particularly when the market is restored,” he explained.
Ogunseye said a letter was sent to President Bharrat Jagdeo requesting assistance for the restoration of the market sometime ago but to date there has been no reply. “Everyone knows the market is in a state of disrepair…for some reason the people who are best placed to do something for Kitty Market are not keen on restoring it,” he added.
Clerk of Markets Schulder Griffith recently told Stabroek News that there are plans to repair the walls, windows and the gates of the market. However, he acknowledged that a complete rehabilitation is something all together different. “What the department has proposed over the years is to have the offending portions, the top, taken out and one common roof, so it won’t be a two-storey building,” he said.
Griffith disclosed that the council has budgeted $1.5M for the market this year, while noting that the market’s annual revenue is $3M.
