City Council hopes to fit 400 vendors into Water St structure
Stabroek News
October 14, 2002
The City Council hopes to allocate spots to over 400 vendors now on Water Street when construction work on a plot in that same area is completed by the end of this month.
The land on Water Street was compulsorily acquired by the government from Toolsie Persaud Limited and is the subject of a court case.
In his weekly broadcast, Mayor Hamilton Green said that the contractor employed to carry out the work on the Water Street plot was working feverishly on it.
The Mayor disclosed that Sandra V. Jones Associates have concluded its work on the institutional strengthening of the municipality and the recommendations would allow for general reform of the council and an improvement in service delivery. He said the council was now at a decisive stage of the process - the implementation of the recommendations.
Green acknowledged that the council has not been doing so well in the roads department and creditors are no longer offering the council credit. “Due to our financial constraints and our inability to honour our debts, our creditors have not been happy with the protracted periods they are forced to wait for payment and they have indicated this by refusing to offer more credit”, the mayor said.
He reiterated that the council was in a precarious situation because it is owed $800M and called on those who owe the council to pay up.
He noted that the government has paid over $50M as part of its outstanding sum of general rates. Further, the council was preparing a programme to collect the $16M subvention on offer from the Ministry of Local Government.
The mayor also signalled an imminent crackdown on owners of horse-drawn carts which break the law. He contended that the owners have not honoured an agreement with him to ensure their operations did not interfere with traffic, that the entrances of businesses remain free and clear of encumbrances, that the owners appear clean and tidy and that the area should be kept clean and free of droppings. He said that the constabulary has started to prosecute the offending owners.
Critical drainage works are also being done. Green pointed out that three areas were recently under water: Campbell Avenue, Campbellville; Middle Street, McDoom; Adelaide and Howes streets, Charlestown. Culverts were installed and the three main canals leading to the pump and sluice in Commerce Street were desilted. These are the Commerce, Croal and Republic Avenue canals. The tunnels and other facilities associated with the canals were also done. In total, $10M was spent. The main drainage canal in Meadow Brook was also desilted and the drainage system in Kingston is being tackled. The cost here is $4.7M.