FARMERS PRESENTED WITH PROPOSALS FOR NEW ROAD TOWN MARKET
The report of the Road Town Market Area Remedy Committee that recommends the best use of the market area in the capital has received approval from Executive Council.
The proposal was presented to over 50 farmers during a meeting held April 9th at the Paraquita Bay agricultural station. The main presenters were Assistant Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Labour Julian Willock, Assistant Secretary/Chief Minister’s Office Malvern Brathwaite and Town Planner II Marva Titley, all members of the committee.
In October 1999, Executive Council agreed to the establishment of this committee. The committee was charged with recommending to the Minister of Natural Resources and Labour a policy for the best use of the Road Town market. They were to advise on whether the market needed to be relocated and to where and to examine the june plum tree.
“This committee was born out of complaints by you, the farmers,” Mr. Willock noted. “The farmers, when they go to the farmers market every Saturday, had to be faced with a deplorable situation - faeces in the market, vendors leaving alcohol bottles and all sort of stuff.” He said they were also receiving complaints from the private sector.
The committee was divided into two
sections - the Physical Planning sub-committee and the Illegal
Peddling sub-committee.
“One of the strategies of the committee was to present to
government both a short-term and a long term measure, because
the committee was adamant from day one that we don’t want
to be a committee just simply presenting another report that
probably will get dust,” the chairman reported.
The short-term measure recommended
that the illegal vendors at the market square operating without
proper trade licenses and health certificates, be evicted. Government
accepted that recommendation and eviction notices, signed by
the Governor, were served.
Further to that, the committee recommended that the physical
area be improved, including cleaning up the restrooms, painting,
re-grading the surface and the immediate removal of the garbage
from the premises. “Council agreed to all our recommendations
and that was our first indication that the Executive Council
was serious about that project,” Mr. Willock stated.
The long-term measure involves the construction of a new market. Mr. Malvern Brathwaite explained the concept they had in terms of the overall development of the market area.
“We had to look at the entire market area and that included all the areas around the market, adjacent to the roundabout and the area now where there are some other services behind Ms. Yamraj’s building next to Cable TV and up alongside the road straight up towards the Legislative Council,” he recalled.
The proposal creates a cultural concept at the roundabout, where people can congregate. There’s a pedestrian path with a walkway, an area for the construction of monuments and a parking area.
Mr. Brathwaite said they recognized that the area was already very congested and suggested to government that no more commercial buildings be erected there. They also asked that government secure the two vacant lots to ensure that they are used towards this project.
“We recommended that the market
now be moved from where it is presently to the site adjacent,
which will be over the ghut area,” the official pointed
out. He noted that there is a project underway in the Chief Minister’s
Office to have the ghuts covered.
In keeping with the concept of civic development, the proposal
calls for the extension of the boulevard into a “grand avenue”,
complete with the widening of the road to include three lanes
and pedestrian path and additional parking for the Legislative
Council. Some landscaping and planting of trees would also be
done.
Describing the building itself, Ms. Marva Titley stated from the onset that these were preliminary designs, which would be fine-tuned by an architect. She pointed out that the first floor would include 14 stalls for fresh produce on the left side and another 14 on the right side for meat and fish.
Ms. Titley said there would be cold
storage and storage areas, male and female bathroom facilities.
The second level would be an open floor. “We propose in
our report that there would be a Market Management Board who
will be able to set up how the market is actually being used;
that Board will also determine the specific use of this space.”
It is suggested that church, public or private service organizations
could use this space for public events, such as the BUY BVI Trade
Show. On that floor, there is also another set of bathrooms.
The third level is not a complete floor, but will accommodate the office of the Market master. “There will be a person who will be on site when the market is in operation, someone who will be able to oversee the management of the market.”
There is also an open area - a courtyard
- where people would be free to come in, walk around and see
what there is to offer. This area would be covered from the elements
of the weather. The preliminary cost for this project is $3M.
[World News][What's New & Commentaries]
[BVI History, Attractions & Features] [Your Spot in the Sun]
[Legal][Contact Us][HOME]