Minister of Communities, Ronald Bulkan on Monday toured the Kitty Market which his ministry will help to finish after work was stalled for months as the city did not have the required funds.
A release yesterday from the Ministry said that the Minister was accompanied by the Ministry’s Head of Projects Department, Naeem Khan and Municipal Services Officer, Nandranie Harrichan.
Assistant City Engineer, Rasheed Kellman, City Constabulary Inspector, Peter Livingstone and other officials from the City Engineer’s Department guided the Communities Minister on the visit.
Kellman said that the first phase of the works are about 70-80 percent complete for the upper flat and 45 percent complete on the lower flat.
The upcoming work is expected to cost in the vicinity of $25M and the scope of works include the construction of 15 external stalls, the sanitary block and the administrative office inclusive of a revenue collection section.
The entire project caters for over 100 stalls including fresh fruits and vegetables, a fish/meat section and clothing and grocery vending.
The sizes of the stalls vary with the largest measuring 12 by eight and the rent is assessed based on square feet.
In addition to the stalls, the building is already designed to include the Public Health Department, Clerk of Markets, Revenue Collectors and a concert/conference hall which is expected to host community events.
The release said that the City Council intends to equip the market with solar energy to power the needs of the vendors with the central air conditioning will be powered by the Guyana Power and Light.
The market became defunct in April 2016 after vendors were forced to move due to safety concerns.
After construction stalled, the council reached out to the Ministry of Communities for assistance and works on the first phase of the project began.
Under the Georgetown Restoration Programme another $50M has been awarded to assist the council in completing the works.
The scope of works on this project has not yet been decided.
“We’re hoping to have a supermarket arrangement where the meat is nicely portioned and packaged and placed in freezers. We don’t want to be operating in the same manner when this market is finished. So we don’t want vendors to have the meat hanging in the stalls exposed to flies and the elements,” Kellman said.
According to Khan, the project will be managed by the Ministry with supervision from the City Council.
“This is considered as the first intervention by the ministry in the bid to put a functional status to the market at the end of this project,” Khan added.
