M&CC teams up with E&A to construct modern East La Penitence Market

Through collaborative efforts from Georgetown Mayor Alfred Mentore and the Councillors of the City of Georgetown, the municipality is working closely with E&A Consultancy, the firm contracted by the Government of Guyana to work on the market project, to spearhead the construction of a modern new market for the East La Penitence community.
As an in-depth analysis of the La Penitence Market structure proceeds, Mayor Mentore expressed satisfaction with the proposed upgrades and reaffirmed the Council’s willingness to collaborate for the benefit of stallholders and vendors.
Mentore noted that as Guyana is now an oil-producing nation, the systems and infrastructure being implemented must reflect this new era of development and embrace forward-thinking approaches to city and nation building.
“Guyana can’t be operating in such a tardy fashion in an economy that has so much wealth and so many resources. So I guess some of those resources from an oil perspective, from central government, have to come to these markets and to these general infrastructure developments,” he stated.
He underscored that the site visit to La Penitence Market originated from the Government of Guyana’s push to place greater emphasis on upgrading the facility. According to the Mayor, the current Minister – Priya Manickchand – is highly active and engaged; he noted her involvement in city-wide garbage management and now the redevelopment of the market through E&A Consultancy.
“We know the challenges of the background of this market – the drainage, etc. This is an old market that needs financial investment. It has really and truly outlived its usefulness over the years, and we need to put significant investment into it. We have addressed this issue for a number of years,” he said.
The mayor also explained that rehabilitating the existing structure would cost nearly the same as reconstructing it entirely.

Rebuilding and displacement
“Even if you remodel or rehabilitate this market, it will cost you the same amount of money, technically. So the common position we’ve taken is to take it down and rebuild the market,” he explained.
He added that systems will be put in place to assist those who may be displaced during the construction period.
“We know we’ll have to put systems in place as to how we can adjust and make arrangements for people here who will be displaced so they can continue to do their business. But at the end of the day, like I’ve always said, there’s some amount of inconvenience you have to accept in order to have development. With inconvenience comes progress. So some portions will have to shift around, and we’ll seek to find a piece of property nearby.”
Mayor Mentore noted that the Council is also assessing additional properties in the area to determine how adjustments can be integrated as redevelopment moves forward.

“We also have some other properties here that we’ll look at to see how we could fit those adjustments in place while we address this market and bring about the necessary changes,” he said.
He reiterated that Guyana, now a booming oil economy, must invest in markets and public spaces that reflect that growth.
The team has agreed to review the overall redevelopment plan for the market, with E&A Consultancy expected to submit a design proposal. That proposal will be refined where necessary, with considerations for a ground floor and a partial second floor to accommodate more vendors. The aim is to have the new market operational within roughly a year and a half.
The Mayor said the restored market will be a major source of pride for the community, especially in light of recent events at the site.
“So today we’ve established that we will look at the overall plan. The team from E&A Consultancy will provide us with a design proposal, and we will tweak it here and there to see how we can have a ground floor and some aspect of a second floor to accommodate more people and have this market up and running maybe in another year and a half. It will be a pride and joy for this community to have the market restored. And we all know what happened here on Sunday – we have the green-barrier people who come to sell produce and all that,” he explained.
He added that the upgraded market will help restore vibrancy to the area and support the continued commercial transformation of Georgetown.