– Councillor Oscar Clarke

CHAIRMAN of the Mayor and City Council’s (M&CC) Finance Committee, Councillor Oscar Clarke on Monday questioned whether a deliberate attempt is being made to stymie works at the Kitty Market.

He told councillors that the contractor undertaking the project has been directed by an engineer from the Ministry of Communities to halt all works.
According to Clarke, the contractor has since related that nothing is keeping him from proceeding with the repairs, except the instructions from the engineer.
The councillor noted that City Engineer, Colvern Venture and the other engineers ought to be supervising any works that are being undertaken in the city by a contractor.
Town Clerk Royston King undertook to contact the Permanent Secretary within the said ministry to find out just what is keeping back the works.

Last March 10 was the estimated date given for the return of vendors who are selling fruits and vegetables along Alexander Street and Assistant City Engineer, Rasheed Kellman who had taken media operatives on a tour of the market last month, said that this phase of the project is costing $25M.

This phase sees work being done on the eastern side of the market, completing some 15 stalls that will accommodate the fruit vendors.
The Ministry of Communities has partnered with the City Council to provide the funds needed for the completion of the market and hence Kellman had assured that phase two of the project will get underway immediately after phase one is completed. The second phase should cost somewhere in the vicinity of $60M.

Meanwhile, the market has drawn increased attention due to the repair works, resulting in the M&CC receiving in excess of 300 applications. The market though can only accommodate 90 vendors.
The upper flat of the market will house a health center, a rates and taxes office, and office space that will be up for rental.

According to Kellman, the intention is to create a supermarket-like arrangement with new designs and modern facilities, and to make it ‘drive-through’ friendly.
The stallholders rent, though, will have to be increased and a final figure will have to be worked out between them and the City Council. The plan is for some services at the market to be offered on a 24-hour basis.
By the time the market is completed, Kellman said about 80 percent of its originality will still be intact. While the ground floor was previously made of wood, the contractor has now made it into concrete.

The upper flat of the market, located on Alexander and Barr Streets and Shell Road, also now boasts an auditorium for community events.
The Kitty Market has missed countless deadlines for its re-opening with City Hall often citing a lack of funds as the reason for such.

A decentralisation of Council’s work is expected when the market comes back on board, as it will take into account the needs of communities between Cummings Lodge and Kitty.
“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 the Bourda Market, 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.