The Leonora Market tarmac on the West Coast Demerara in Region Three has been completed and the vendors now have the benefit of a more spacious and enabling business environment, a Department of Public Information (DPI) release stated yesterday.
It boasts sanitary facilities, upgraded drainage, and a dedicated parking lot for the convenience of both vendors and customers, it added.
The decision to move ahead with this project was a result of a visit from President Irfaan Ali back in 2022, where he observed the challenges faced by the market. An influx of vendors had created congestion and impacted established vendors. In response to these concerns, the President initiated a plan to construct the new tarmac and upgrade the access road.
According to DPI, a $149 million contract was signed in December 2022 for the 8,000-square metre tarmac and now that it has been completed, vendors will be relocated soon. This, it added, will allow for the planned upgrades to the access road to begin, improving overall traffic flow and market accessibility.
President Irfaan Ali yesterday morning revisited the Leonora Market and spoke of his commitment to replicating such improvements across the country.
“This will be the design of all the markets we are looking at nationally. Concrete drains, washrooms, accessibility, parking, washroom facilities. We are going to do a highway coming in, and [all the vendors] will come here, so we won’t have any issues.”
Meanwhile, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar, will return to the market in the new week to engage vendors and begin the relocation process. He informed that he will be working alongside the local government ministry for this phase.
“We are now doing further work. That initial market tarmac is now completed. So, we have to start moving people in because we have to do the road as well. I think on Tuesday we will meet with the vendors. We can have a transitional period where they come in and we will have to demarcate here as well,” he told DPI.
A similar process will also soon begin at the Hydronie Market, also in Region Three.
While at the Leonora market, the President also conducted an assessment of the prices for vegetables and other commodities, and observed that prices had remained stable. Plantains, eddoes, and potatoes are being sold at $100 per pound, while vegetables such as celery and bora are priced at $200 per parcel.
President Ali was accompanied on his visit by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand; Minister within the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Anand Persaud; Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development, Miguel Shaun Choo-Kang; along with regional officials, the release added.
