–nearly 200 persons apply for new stalls

By Telesha Ramnarine

MOST of the renovation work at the Kitty Market has been completed and Public Relations Officer Debra Lewis says that City Hall is working assiduously to meet the November 1 deadline that Town Clerk Royston King had given to the city engineers some months ago.However, continuation of the work depends on the availability of resources and how timely residents pay up their taxes. In the past, there have been many delays to the project due to the unavailability of finances.
Lewis told the Guyana Chronicle yesterday, in an invited comment that the Kitty Market is not a special project for which City Hall is receiving financial help. “It’s based on our revenues and that is dependent on how taxpayers would pay their rates. We really wanted to complete it for those vendors who are selling outside so that they can have a roof over their heads. We do understand the inconvenience. We have all the carpenters and masons on the ground and they are working to ensure its completion.”

COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
Most of the work on the top floor has been completed so far and Lewis said that it is only the painting job that is still to be done. “All the rooms have been identified and we have a stage inside the market to facilitate community activities. We want to do a modern, state-of-the-art facility.”

According to the PRO, there will no longer be butcher stalls in the market but meat will be stored in freezers and fridges. The same goes for vegetables, apart from those that will be sold outside of the market.

Meanwhile, City Hall has received more than 170 applications from citizens who wish to occupy new stalls in the market, while the ground floor 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.
The Town Clerk had said: “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.”

DECENTRALISATION
According to King, 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 upper flat of the market will also accommodate new vendors, and installing a clinic there is also being considered.
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, causing vendors operating in its environs to lodge numerous complaints with the City Council. The Council had however long been citing financial woes as the reason why the market had continued to remain a “threat to life and limb.”