By Javone Vickerie | HGP Nightly News|
KITTY, GEORGETOWN — Expressing immense frustration over a municipal project that has dragged on for nearly a decade, Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Priya Manickchand has strictly demanded an immediate end to the prolonged rehabilitation of the Kitty Market.
The historical municipal asset, which began its multi-phase structural restoration way back in 2016 under a previous administration, was originally slated for a routine, nine-month completion window. Ten years later, the site remains a scene of incomplete civil works, leaving dozens of displaced roadside vendors exposed to the elements and stripping the surrounding community of a centralized, sanitary shopping hub.
During an unannounced walkthrough inspection of the facility, Minister Manickchand questioned senior city engineers and municipal coordinators about the specific administrative and technical hurdles delaying the issuance of the final keys.
“There is a persistent complaint that we cannot ignore—too many people are being severely inconvenienced for far too long,” Minister Manickchand stated bluntly to officials. “We cannot keep prolonging this project based on empty promises, structural excuses, and endless plans. It must move immediately to actual, physical delivery. It is completely unfair and problematic for the ordinary citizens of this neighborhood.”
The Georgetown Municipal Market Funding Gap (2025–2026)
The Minister’s intervention highlights a sharp budgetary paradox, as billions in central state funds are funneled into municipal upgrades while the Kitty project continues to slip through the cracks:
| Fiscal Budget Year | Total National Allocation | Publicly Targeted Municipal Market Projects | Kitty Market Status |
| 2025 Fiscal Ledger | $2.7+ Billion | Bourda Market, Bourda Green, East La Penitence, Stabroek Market, and East Ruimveldt. | Omitted (No independent lines allocated). |
| 2026 Fiscal Ledger | $18+ Billion | Comprehensive urban and rural marketplace modernization networks countrywide. | Omitted (Excluded from the primary capital works register). |
| Current Reality | — | Reliance on municipal revenues and ad-hoc ministerial emergency funds to bridge the completion. | Incomplete (Approaching its 10th anniversary since the 2016 sod-turning). |
[ THE KITTY MARKET STALL DEADLOCK ]
│
┌────────────────────────────────┴────────────────────────────────┐
▼ ▼
[ Roadside Sellers ] [ Displaced Merchants ]
- Operating on peripheral asphalt - Sidelined during 10-year rebuild
- High traffic & safety hazards - Claiming favoritism in internal layouts
- Demanding transparent roster matching - Rejecting "new vendor" priority shifts
“What we have to do is methodically map out exactly what is left to be done, identify the costs, and execute it with absolute urgency,” Minister Manickchand instructed the technical team. “We cannot have a situation where taxpayers’ money is spent on a structure, yet our longstanding vendors are forced to remain on the road, battling traffic and poor weather while stalls inside sit empty or unallocated.”
Allegations of Corruption and Unfair Stall Distribution
The ministerial walkthrough quickly turned into a heated public forum as scores of legacy vendors surrounded the delegation to voice grievances about a highly opaque, allegedly biased stall-allocation process managed by the Georgetown Mayor and City Council (M&CC).
Longstanding merchants—some of whom have plied their trade at the Kitty location for over forty years—asserted that the municipal roster had been manipulated. They alleged that premier interior spots are being quietly promised to new, politically connected applicants, while the original market tenants are being pushed into less-visible peripheral stalls or left completely in the dark about their final placements.
Taking immediate action to defuse the growing unrest, Minister Manickchand ordered local government coordinators to halt any unilateral stall distribution by the municipality. She mandated the immediate creation of a joint, transparent audit committee comprising representatives from the Ministry, the M&CC, and the Kitty Vendors’ Association. This committee will be tasked with auditing the original 2016 merchant registry line-by-line, ensuring that those who were historically displaced are given legal, first-preference priority to move inside the completed facility before any new commercial spaces are leased out.
