– as M&CC prepares to build state-of-the-art wharf

By Gabriella Chapman

THE Mayor and City Council (M&CC) and the Ministry of Public Infrastructure are in the preparatory phase of developing a new Stabroek Market wharf.
According to Town Clerk Royston King, the decision was made since the wharf is unsuitable to continue vending.

He explained that the vendors were notified of this course of action and were given a September 12 deadline to relocate. On Wednesday morning, the Council took action to limit the vendors’ activities by cordoning off certain sections of the wharf.

“The safety and well-being of our stallholders are our highest priority. The entire wharf will be closed to the public within the next week. This is being done to protect the lives of those who ply their trade on that wharf, which has collapsed on two occasions; the wharf is in a calamitous state. No one, who is not a stallholder, would be allowed to linger at that facility. The situation is life- threatening,” King said.

He also shared that the council is working assiduously to complete preparation of a portion of reserve west of Parliament Building to relocate those vendors who are affected.
However, King stated that preparation and arrangements to relocate them will take time and substantial resources, which are not yet within the Council’s coffers.

“There has been, financially, a slight setback to our fulfilling the original timeline of one month to relocate those vendors. The council needs another two to four weeks to complete preparation of that area. Funding for this wharf is coming from the general revenue base from the city treasurer, and that is why it is taking so long. No other source but our accounts are being used to advance with the project,” he stressed.

A total of 89 vendors were operating on the wharf, the majority vending perishable goods. In addressing what provisions will be made for those vendors with perishable goods who cannot wait the duration of the preparation period, King stated that the council had several meetings with the vendors and they were warned not to purchase large amounts of goods. In addition, citizens who are supporting the vendors are also endangering their lives when they go to the wharf to make purchases, the town clerk said.

“So it is a situation we could have not allowed to continue. They have a right to earn a living, but the first right is the right to life and that is the first right we wish to protect before we move on to the second right,” he said.

King also said that City Hall will consider allowing the vendors to sell out the goods they have left.

According to City Engineer Colvern Venture, consultations are still ongoing for the construction of the new wharf and recently the council signed on to a document from the Ministry of Public Infrastructure for the first phase of that project to commence.

“So the first phase that was recently signed off on was the actual studies to be carried out on the wharf facilities. That study will be taken into consideration, modernising the facility in such a way that it is more of a tourist attraction,” Venture said.

This phase is expected to last eight months, he said.

In addition to relocating the vendors, the town clerk shared that the office of the Clerk of Markets has been relocated from the wharf to the upper floor of the Kitty Market.