Mayor of Georgetown, Alfred Mentore, today said the development of the Stabroek Market Square is a “noble” project, but he admitted that poor communication and lack of proper consultation on the implementation of the project with the vendors by both the Ministry of Local Government and the Georgetown City Council resulted in initial push back.

Last week, the Mayor told reporters that the erection of construction walls at the centre of the market square caught him by surprise. A number of vendors, who were present at the time, contended that they were unaware of the project, and vented their dissatisfaction.

During an appearance on the New Day Morning Show on GoMoseley Radio this morning, the City Mayor confirmed reports by the Minister of Local Government, Priya Manickchand, that the City Council was consulted on the project during a meeting at the Central Housing and Planning Authority.

However, he said that failure to properly communicate with both the Council and vendors on the implementation of the project sparked outrage due to the lack of information on the implementation of the project, and the impact on vendors.

“Ideally, there was an opportunity missed between us to be able to treat with that, and had it been rolled out the way in which it should have been we would have had that kind of consultation with those persons to allow for us to have a smooth transition of how the development should happen, not at the expense of citizens or vendors themselves being affected,” the Mayor said.

Mayor Mentore said while he was present at the consultation, it was brief and details on the project were in short supply.

He admitted that the Council should have inquired about the implementation date, and alternative arrangements for vendors.

“We should have asked that question as to what are the overall plans, when you want to this and so forth. We didn’t get a chance to do that. Had we done that, we would not have had the hiccups that we had with the vendors wondering,” the Mayor said.

Mayor Mentore said based on last week’s experience, both the Central Government and the Mayor and City Council must do more to effectively communicate with citizens on development projects, and the impact those projects could have on them, whether positive or negative.

He said notwithstanding last week’s hiccup, there now exists a good flow of communication between the Minister of Local Government and the Georgetown Mayor and City Council, which he believes augurs well for the city.

“In relation to the overall development, like I have said we have plugged general development of Stabroek, we have plugged general development of the bizarre, we have plugged general development of the vendors’ arcade mall which is a general overall development not to be displaced but to allow persons to vend where vending should take place. Ideally, with a city or a country itself that benefits from oil funds, it is obvious that we can’t continue as a country and a city to have vending happening all over the place,” the Mayor said.

He said City Hall has already conducted feasibility studies on the redevelopment of the Stabroek Market, the Bizarre and Vendors’ Arcade Mall. These developments, however, would require change in the layout of the markets to allow for easier ingress and egress, adding that development comes at a cost.

Minister of Local Government, Priya Manickchand has assured that vendors at the Stabroek Market will not be displaced, at least for now.

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