Wismar Market revamp to feature security enhancements – Town Clerk

Following multiple incidents of break-ins at the Wismar Market in Linden, Region 10 (Upper Demerara–Upper Berbice), the Linden Mayor and Town Council (LM&TC) has committed to including security enhancements as a key component of its market rehabilitation efforts.

The security enhancements were announced by Linden Town Clerk, Lennox Gasper, during last week’s broadcast of the A Closer Look at Municipal Matters programme. Gasper revealed that, over the past several months, multiple stalls at the Wismar Market had been broken into, prompting concerns among vendors.
As a result, some stallholders have withheld payment of their market dues in protest, demanding either the recovery of their stolen items or justice for the repeated incidents. Addressing the issue, the town clerk appealed to vendors to uphold their contractual responsibilities by paying their market dues, despite the recent challenges. He cautioned that continued non-payment could lead to serious consequences, including the potential closure of their stalls.
“I would like to, through this medium, encourage and implore each and every person who would have suffered as a result of the brazen break-in affecting about nine stallholders, the council, the clerk of market, this system, and this municipal apparatus to now be responsible for what would have happened.”
Gasper added, “It is unfortunate, and we understand and sympathise with you, and we want to ensure that justice is served to you, but we’ve got to, as it says, lick your wounds and move on, but you have an obligation to pay your stall rent; systems are being put in place to ensure that this is minimised for those that have been.”
In fact, the Town Clerk referenced the $18 million subvention approved by the Ministry of Local Government and Regional Development for critical rehabilitation works at the ageing Wismar Market facility.
He further disclosed that, in addition to these upgrades, the Council intends to install essential security features such as alarm systems to help prevent future break-ins and enhance overall safety for vendors and shoppers alike.
“We will also be looking at having the market armed with alarms – this is the alarms with the horns – to ensure that should this happen again, the alarms will go off and also to ensure that our constables do their checks, their routine checks.”