Latest update April 17th, 2024 12:59 AM
Sep 07, 2009 News
– City Engineer
The completion of the works on the Bourda Market has been effectively stalled as the municipality is yet to source some $15M to complete repairs on the roof of the vending facility.
City Engineer, Gregory Erskine, recently disclosed that he has prepared an estimate to this effect which was submitted to the municipal administration as well as the City Council. The two factions he said are now tasked with determining how the funds will be generated by the cash-strapped entity to undertake the very crucial work.
It was initially anticipated that the repairs would have amounted to about $6M.
However, it was while carrying out works on the facility that Erskine was tasked several weeks ago to prepare the estimate after works on the valley of the roof revealed that it was in a more deplorable state than was initially assumed.
He explained that it was during the repair efforts a number of zinc sheets had to be removed, revealing that several were in a dreadful condition.
“They were there for almost five decades. Some were badly damaged, they were porous and even though we repaired the valleys some of the leaking problems still remained in some areas.”
It was at this point that the need for a more extensive job was realised, causing Erskine to speculate that the municipality will be further financially challenged as repairs to the entire roof were not part of the initial rehabilitation plan.
Among the works that were identified to be carried out and have been completed are the installation of windows and expanding metals, as well as some plumbing works.
Emphasis on the need for the rehabilitation of the market was made after the municipality earlier this year announced that it would be increasing the stallholders’ fee for operating in the facility. The announcement did not only raise the stallholders’ concerns about their ability to pay but it also evoked memories from four years ago when the municipality failed to rehabilitate the market after increasing the fees then.
The recent increase was initially challenged by some of the stallholders who had even sought legal advice in order to prevent the municipality from increasing their fees without rehabilitating the market.
In recognition of the cost factor- that is, paying for continued legal advice, the stallholders decided to give in to the demand of the municipality and have since been paying the increase with the assurance that the facility would be restored to some level of decency.
Acting Town Clerk, Yonette Pluck-Cort, asserted that the municipality has kept its word to the stallholders at Bourda Market to undertake some rehabilitative works, even as she admitted that the works have not met the satisfaction of the stallholders.
“We did stick to the promise that we would do the works. The extent to which we had started those works, we find that the stallholders were not quite satisfied but we want to maintain the markets at a level that is acceptable to stallholders and for our own benefit.”
As such, she noted that the Engineer’s Department has since been tasked with deriving a more comprehensive project as it relates to the rehabilitation plan.
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