CITY Mayor Patricia Chase-Green on Monday requested that Town Clerk Royston King accompany her today on a site visit to the Kitty Market, which she had hoped would have been opened in time for Independence Day, which was on Saturday.

After asking for an update on the long-awaited opening of the market at Monday’s statutory meeting, the Mayor said she wants to go on the ground to find out just what is happening there.

Assistant City Engineer Rasheed Kellman revealed that Phase One of the project, which was expected to be finished in early March, is yet to be completed.

All external stalls have been completed, he reported, but the decision for vendors to begin occupying them will have to be taken by the relevant authority.

The mayor noted that the new cost for stalls will have to be discussed by the Markets and Public Health Committee, along with the Finance Committee.

Meanwhile, the M&CC has received in excess of 300 applications for vending, although the market can accommodate only 90 vendors.

The Ministry of Communities has partnered with the City Council to provide the funds needed for the completion of the market.

The upper flat of the market will house a health centre, a rates-and-taxes office, and office space for rental. The intention is to create a supermarket-like arrangement with new designs and modern facilities, and to make it ‘drive-through’ friendly.

The plan also is for some services at the market to be offered on a 24-hour basis.
The upper flat of the market, located on Alexander and Barr Streets and Shell Road, Kitty also now boasts an auditorium for community events.

The Kitty Market has missed countless deadlines for its re-opening, with City Hall citing a lack of funds as the reason for the delays.
A decentralisation of the Council’s work is expected when the market comes back on stream, 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. And like Bourda, the Kitty Market was also made of timber.

The 19the Century edifice 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.