TOWN Clerk Royston King on Monday disclosed that the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) is in discussion with the Ministry of Communities for help to complete major works on the Kitty Market, which has constantly been put on pause due to a lack of funds.

At the Council’s fortnightly statutory meeting at City Hall, King reported that the municipality is awaiting word from the Ministry on a proposal that was sent to it under the ‘Green Initiative Project.’ King had announced last year that the market would have had a November 2016 opening, but People’s Progressive Party (PPP), Councillor Khame Sharma, yesterday indicated that he was unsure November of which year King was speaking about.  The City Council had set countless deadlines for the re-opening of the market; before the end of this year’s first quarter being the last such. date The renovation of the market, which is also a historical site, was often put on hold due to the financial constraints of the City Council.

M&CC Public Relations Officer, 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.” King had confidently said last year 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 the 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 the payment of rates and taxes, and space for the community’s councillors. “We are also contemplating putting some space for the councillors’ 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 the 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 re-modelled 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 re-introduce 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 Bourda Market, the 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.