CLERK of Markets Schulder Griffith announced yesterday that the previously thriving Stelling View Market, in the vicinity of Stabroek Market, will be officially re-opened to the public tomorrow.
The re-opening was delayed on several occasions, partly due to the unwillingness of vendors to relocate, but financing and other factors also influenced the timing.
Speaking to the media in his Stabroek Market office, Mr. Griffith said a packed programme is planned for the event, which will start at 13:00 hrs.
With Griffith was Public Relations Officer, Mr. Royston King.
Cultural items are part of the agenda and prominent speakers include government ministers and Georgetown Mayor Hamilton Green.
According to Griffith, the idea of the mall came about because of the existing need to re-organise vendors and put them in facilities where they could be more comfortable and not offer unfair competition to others inside the market.
Vendors in Stelling View comprise mainly those who previously carried on business in front of Stabroek Market.
The new mall will accommodate dry goods and grocery stalls, boutiques, Internet cafés, hair dressing salons, barber, tailor and craft shops, as well as air-conditioning services, among others.
Griffith said, initially, vendors showed some hesitancy in relocating but, eventually, saw the initiative as good.
Financing was from a public/private partnership, replicating the transformation that has become the New Vendors Mall on Water Street, to where 180 sellers, taken off the streets and other thoroughfares, were placed.
The re-opened Stelling View will accommodate 66 more.
Griffith had, previously, told the Guyana Chronicle that Stelling View stalls will be modern and constructed with a different design.
He said the Ministry of Transport and Hydraulics was on board to do the floor and the City Council will take care of lighting, the gates and fence, among other things.
Griffith said toilet facilities will be provided and prospective stallholders have already agreed to maintain them. Standpipes have been installed and more amenities are yet to be put in place.
The stalls will be built around the fenced area and a huge benab will house fruits, vegetables and ground provision sellers.