– To be reopened by the end of first quarter

THE Kitty Market remains on track for its opening at the end of the first quarter as repairs to the market resumed recently.

The renovation of the market, which is also a historical site, was scheduled to be completed last May but was rescheduled due to financial challenges.

Guyana Chronicle understands that though repairs are not visible on the outside of the building contractors are working on the inside.

Public Relations Officer at Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC), Debra Lewis, had said that the market could not be completed for 2016 because the municipality was cash-strapped.

“We are working as the finances come to the municipality and we are not getting a grant to do this project; it is merely the rates collected that are being used,” Lewis had told Guyana Chronicle.

Lewis explained that the market is not being subsidized and that rehabilitation works are solely dependent on the rates and taxes, of which some $16B is outstanding to the municipality.

Meanwhile, Town Clerk Royston King had announced that the market would have had a November 1 opening, just in time for the Christmas season. At that time only 65 per cent of the works had been completed.”

The M&CC has received more than 170 applications from citizens who wish to occupy new stalls in the market, the ground floor of which is costing the Council roughly $35M.

The market, which has great historical significance and bears much pride for the Kitty community, is to feature a traditional health centre, an office for rates and taxes, and space for the community councillor.

“We are also contemplating putting some space for the councillor’s office at the market; and this is not only at Kitty, but wherever we have municipal buildings, we intend to make space available for councillors working with their local communities,” the Town Clerk had said.

According to him, there will be a decentralisation of Council’s work, as the market will take into account the needs of communities between Cummings Lodge and Kitty. The upper flat of the market is being remodelled to include a rates and taxes office, as well as a municipal clinic.
“People from Cummings Lodge to Kitty don’t have to come all the way to City Hall to pay their rates and taxes. We are aiming to reintroduce the system that was in place many years ago,” Mayor Patricia Chase-Green had told the Chronicle.

The Kitty Market was established in 1882, two years after the Bourda Market had come into being. Like the Bourda Market, Kitty Market is timber-framed. The 19th century structure had suffered massive deterioration over the years prior to its renovation, causing vendors operating in its environs to lodge numerous complaints with the City Council.