Vendors trading in the area of the Stabroek Market Wharf, a section of the roof of which collapsed last September bringing an abrupt and protracted halt to their activities can anticipate the commencement of work by the municipality in conjunction with the Ministry of Works in the near future, Deputy Mayor Patricia Chase-Green told Stabroek Business in a telephone interview on Monday.
Asserting that procedures relating to effecting the repairs had, until recently,
been undermined through the machinations of Acting Town Clerk Carol Sooba, the Deputy Mayor said she could now confirm that repairs to the area was “on the top of the list of priorities of the council.”
She said that while the council had taken the precaution of cordoning off the immediately affected area, there was a very valid concern that vendors who still insisted on trading in proximity to the affected area could be seriously injured in the event that other sections collapsed.
Stabroek Business understands that around 100 stalls owned by about 40 vendors were either demolished or badly damaged during the cave-in and that as things stand other areas including the building housing the municipal office administering the Stabroek Market could be in danger if, as is entirely conceivable, another collapse occurs.
Meanwhile, Chase-Green disclosed that the envisaged restoration works will take account of the need to effect repairs to the entire wharf.
Some of the displaced vendors have been relocated to the Stelling View area, though this newspaper understands that others still run the risk of trading on the wharf close to the disaster site, an area which they consider advantageous for plying their trade
