Carenage fish market to open month-end

RESIDENTS of Carenage can expect to buy their fish from the ceremonially opened, but still closed, fish market from month end, Minister of Agriculture, Land and Fisheries Clarence Rambharath has assured.

In a WhatsApp conversation with Sunday Newsday, Rambharath said the Carenage Fishing Centre, which Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley unveiled on June 9 will be opened, all things permitting, on October 26. Rambharath, who was at a meeting with Udecott during the conversation, said there was an issue with two squatters at the back of the facility which is being addressed as well as boat owners parking their boats in the boat repair area. He added that a management team for the facility will be operational in time for the actual opening. In the meantime, fishermen have been selling out of a shed at the back of the facility.

Carenage Fisherfolk Association vice president Earl Harry told Sunday Newsday that the $28 million fish market has to remain closed until at least 85 per cent of the work on the adjacent building is completed. He added that it would be unsanitary to have fish selling amidst dust and debris from the nearby construction work. Regarding the special committee that will oversee the use of the fish market and the adjoining building, Harry said candidates are being screened as the most suitable people are being sought.

When the fish market was opened on June 9, Rowley said it will be a national facility that will be the best in the country and probably the Caribbean. He added that apart from fish vending, the adjacent building will host a mixture of culinary arts and cultural performances and become a place for entertainment. The cost of constructing the fish fry facility is $5 million.

Rowley said the building is modelled after Oistins Fish Fry in Barbados where locals and tourists would go to eat good food, drink, lime, and be entertained. He said once the facility was established, if used for the purpose it was built, the centre would be a serious economic entity for the people of Carenage.

In June, Rambharat said the fish fry area will have eight to ten booths for vending. He said the fish market is a “significant upgrade” to the plans that were originally designed. Some of the construction that was left idling during 2010 to 2015 had to be demolished and rebuilt, Rambharat said.

The cost of renting the facilities for entertainment will be worked out by the management team, as well as rental costs for the booths. Caribbean Fisheries Training and Development Institute, a state company under the Agriculture Ministry, will manage the two facilities.