THE iconic Stabroek Market clock will soon be rehabilitated thanks to the United States (U.S.) Ambassador’s Fund for Cultural Preservation.Representative of the U.S. Embassy in Guyana, Mr. Albert Razick, visited the City Council last Monday to inform councillors of the plans that are in store for the clock. Speaking before the full council, Razick said this project, which was chosen by the U.S. Ambassador himself, has been ongoing since the previous Council and has now reached its final stage.

“We put together a proposal with the engineer that we thought would be attractive to the folks in Washington,” he said.

According to Razick, they were in the past trying to get approval to restore City Hall’s roof, and to have some dialects in the Amerindian community upgraded and written. But these projects were not approved.

“This is a project that the ambassador chose himself. He went to the top of the Stabroek clock and he said, “This is it. This is going [to] be our project.”

Razick observed that the view from the clock is spectacular and he said the hope is to restore it, so that a nominal structural fee could be implemented for those who wish to go up there.

He said the intention is also to upgrade the system from a mechanically operated one to an electronic one, inclusive of a solar-powered system.

“It will look the same; it will retain the same charm, but it will have a new system inside. It will work more efficiently and if it breaks down, it will be easier to fix.”

Further, there will be the installation of a lighting system to the four faces so that the clock could be visible at night. Some of the stairs, too, need repairing.