–new facilities for vendors, pedestrian areas, parking, eating spaces, greenery and waste disposal among proposed features

VENDORS at the Mon Repos market on the East Coast of Demerara (ECD) will be moved from roadside stalls into new on-site facilities, with spaces for pedestrians, parking, eating and greenery.
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall, SC, outlined the proposed features of the market during last week’s unveiling of the Model Village Blueprint for Mon Repos. Under the proposed design, vendors would no longer operate from the current roadside stalls, but would be accommodated in more organised facilities.
Nandlall said the vendors will be moved from roadside stalls into stores on site.
He said the new arrangement is intended to provide vendors with a cleaner and more suitable environment in which to conduct business, while making the market easier to maintain.
“Build this, put them in there, so you’re buying. The people sell in a nice place, environmentally friendly, easy to clean, and you shop in comfort,” he said.
The proposed layout would also separate the different uses of the market, with dedicated areas for walking, vending and parking.

Nandlall said, “You have a place to walk, you have a place to put your stalls, et cetera, a place to park, and then you have the place to eat and the greenery.”
The design therefore envisages the market as more than a collection of vendors’ stalls, incorporating pedestrian space, parking, eating areas and landscaping into the commercial environment.
Garbage-disposal facilities would also form part of the new arrangement.
Nandlall said the new facilities will include garbage-disposal areas to address the current practice of vendors dumping unsold goods into nearby trenches, which are later washed back into the drainage system.
The proposed facilities are intended to make waste management easier and reduce the environmental problems associated with the existing market arrangement.
The inclusion of greenery is another feature of the proposed design, with landscaped areas incorporated alongside the commercial and pedestrian spaces.
Nandlall said the concept is intended to create an environment where vendors can sell and customers can shop in greater comfort.
The proposed changes would also create designated parking rather than having vehicles compete for space around the market and its surrounding roads.
Pedestrian areas would provide shoppers with designated places to walk through the market, while eating areas would add another function to the commercial space.
The proposal therefore combines vendor facilities with supporting infrastructure designed around the movement and comfort of shoppers.
The market is a significant commercial feature of Mon Repos, with Nandlall describing it as being well known across Guyana.
He added, “Mon Repos is very famous countrywide for its market.”
He said the Mon Repos Market is regarded as one of the largest markets on the East Coast, if not the country.
The proposed market design is part of a preliminary plan developed following field assessments by government engineers, planners and technical personnel.
The Attorney General said the design remains subject to residents’ input before it is finalised.
“The preliminary version of it captures the existing layout and it captures many of the concerns that you have raised with us over the years,” he said.
The proposed redevelopment would therefore change the market’s existing arrangement by bringing vendors into organised on-site facilities and creating designated spaces for pedestrians, parking and other activities.
It would also introduce formal waste-disposal arrangements and landscaping as part of an effort to create a cleaner and more organised commercial environment.
Dating back to the 1940s, the Mon Repos Market has become a major commercial hub, drawing vendors and shoppers from across the ECD and other parts of Guyana.
The market was known for its busy weekends and extensive outdoor vending, with the main facility accommodating about 400 stalls and the external vending area more than 200.
It underwent a $63 million rehabilitation project beginning in 2022, including upgrades to its fences, roofs, washrooms and drainage.