…clears construction of two-storey structure at Stabroek Bazaar

WHILE Town Clerk Royston King has granted permission for a vendor to construct a two-storey building in the Stabroek Market Bazaar, the Markets and Public Health Committee has said it knows nothing about the project.

Clerk of Markets, Sherlock Lovell told Guyana Chronicle on Tuesday that he was not authorised to give any information, and directed this newspaper to the Public Relations Officer, Debra Lewis.      Lewis confirmed that the vendor was granted permission by the Town Clerk and the Clerk of Markets, but noted that there was nothing illegal about the building work. The vendor, she said, requested permission through the Clerk of Markets to do the construction.

According to Lewis, Lovell was acting in harmony with his functions as the Clerk of Markets and hence the matter did not need to go before the full council. “He carried out his administrative function,” she said.       As for those other vendors who also shared the location that is currently under construction, Lewis said that Lovell will have to work out where they will be placed.

Chairman of the Markets Committee and Deputy Mayor, Lionel Jaikarran said he was “appalled” at hearing about the construction. He declined to offer any comments because he said he did not have a chance to visit the location.

Councillor Bishram Kuppen, who is a member of the Markets Committee, told the Chronicle that this construction project never went to the committee for approval. “This is a case where the Town Clerk is again doing his own thing,” Kuppen offered, adding that had the committee members been aware, they would have visited the site to conduct inspections.

Kuppen said that although the City Council had spoken about extending the market while it was exploring several options, nothing final was ever decided.

Former Councillor Ian Andrews, who is now President of the Guyana Market Vendors’ Union, told the Chronicle that he was concerned that the construction will affect the Stabroek Market negatively. “It destroys the aesthetics of the market and it will definitely obliterate any lighting that normally gets into the market.

“I am certain, and I say this without any fear of contradiction, that neither the Markets Committee; neither the Deputy Mayor knows anything about this. I am certain that this Town Clerk is again doing his own thing,” said Andrews.

He added: “You can see there’s casting at the bottom; the steel that’s there indicates there are concrete poles going up. And look at the height of that thing; that’s a two-storey concrete structure. And they are working round the clock since last Saturday, night and day to get this thing done.

It is a very large concrete structure that is going to be built there and it’s by a private person. I am concerned that many things are happening outside of the committees that govern these things. I am sure that this did not go to full council.”

The vendor is reportedly doing the construction at his own expense. “We couldn’t move a stone without permission. We went through the process and permission was granted by the City Council,” one man on site told this newspaper.