By Telesha Ramnarine

RENOVATION works are progressing rapidly on the Kitty Market, and the upper flat is being remodeled 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 told the Chronicle in an invited comment Tuesday.

The City Council had hoped to finish works on the market in time for the Golden Jubilee celebrations but was unable to, in view of other necessary works.

The upper flat of the market will also accommodate new vendors, Chase-Green informed, and installing a clinic up there will also be looked at.

The Mayor said the rainy weather is currently holding up works on the market, but they are hoping to finish in the shortest possible time.

Meanwhile, Kitty Market vendors are anticipating the completion of the market and are overjoyed at the pace of the reconstruction.

A third generation vendor had told this newspaper: “The building needed repairs since it began to leak in the 1980s and lack of repairs caused the building to go downhill but right now the guys are doing a terrific job and daily the transformation can be seen.”

FEELING GOOD
He said he is overjoyed at the development and is anticipating more traffic through the market since the fear of something falling and injuring a vendor or shopper is now a thing of the past. He noted that it’s a relief that the rehabilitation is finally being done as the market has been serving the community for decades. “Situations like this gives you hope and makes you feel good,” he said.

The 19th century structure suffered massive deterioration over the years, causing vendors operating in the area to lodge numerous complaints with the City Council. The Council, however, had long been citing financial woes as the reason the market continued to remain a “threat to life and limb.”

Under the new administration, City Hall has embarked on a $240M restoration exercise as of February last.

The Kitty Market was established in 1882, two years after the Bourda Market came into being. Like the Bourda Market, Kitty Market is timber-framed.