$14M upgrades at East Ruimveldt, East La Penitence markets to be completed soon -Minister Dharamlall

-M&CC to complete Kitty Market

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Hon. Nigel Dharamlall says the ongoing works at the East Ruimveldt and East La Penitence markets will be completed soon.  

The projects, which commenced in 2020, included repairs to the roof, lighting and other fixtures at both markets at a cost of $14 million.

With regard to the Kitty market, Minister Dharamlall said the Mayor and City Council (M&CC) has said the facility cannot be used at this time.

“The Mayor and City Council presented a budget of $2.2 billion and so we would have expected that they had put resources in that budget for the total completion of Kitty market.

But, as far as we are concerned, Government resources have been expended through the City Council to get the market constructed and we hoped that vendors can start taking up their places and start vending within the market.”

The then Ministry of Communities had signed a $25 million contract in 2018 with BML Architects and Engineers Consultancy and Contracting Services to conduct the first phase of the renovations.

Based on the engineer’s estimate, the $240-million-project catered for over 100 stalls for fresh fruits and vegetables, a fish/meat section, clothing and grocery vending.  It also included the establishment of a public health department, market clerk’s office and revenue collection section, among others.

Minister Dharamlall said while the Ministry hopes for a speedy resolution to the Kitty market issue, the Council has more pressing matters, including the sanitation and management of the Stabroek and Bourda markets.

“The sanitary facilities in those markets are in atrocious condition and every day we are getting reports from members of the public as well as vendors for those markets about the condition.

I hope that the Clerk of Markets as well as the City Councillors themselves will spend some time to ensure that the sanitation facilities are upgraded,” he said.

The Minister also said the responsibility of keeping the markets open for business lies with the M&CC.  

“We have completed what we had budgeted to have the market where it is and if there are additional works that the City Council would like to get done then the city council will have to put its resources towards those,” he added.

In 2020, the Ministry assessed several markets across the country to determine the needs. The Parika, Charity and Mon Repos markets were identified for rehabilitation. Some $70 million was earmarked to continue work at Mon Repos market, while $30 million was allocated to start rehabilitation works on the Charity market.