The sod has been turned for a new $1.5 billion market at Pouderoyen, West Bank Demerara, marking the start of a project expected to accommodate up to 145 vendors. Minister of Local Government and Regional Development Priya Manickchand led Saturday's ceremony, joined by vendors and community members from the area.

The new facility is intended to provide a modern trading space for the community while creating jobs and encouraging economic activity in Pouderoyen and neighbouring areas. Manickchand disclosed that 78 vendors are currently registered at the existing market, a figure well below the new facility's planned capacity.

To manage the transition, a 45 car parking area will be built first and used as a temporary vending space while construction of the main market proceeds. The intention, according to Manickchand, is to ensure vendors are able to continue earning an income throughout the construction period rather than facing a gap in trading.

The Pouderoyen project forms part of a broader programme to upgrade markets across Region Three. Manickchand referred to the recently completed Parika and Leonora markets as earlier examples of this effort, while noting that work is currently under way at the Hydronie Market. The Tuschen Market remains in the procurement stage, and a sod-turning ceremony is expected for the Zeelugt Market in due course.

Describing the scale of the investment, Manickchand said the market would be built in four lots by four different contractors, with the process supervised both externally and internally. She suggested the project would have effects beyond Pouderoyen itself, predicting that once complete, the market would draw shoppers from communities across the East Bank and generate a different kind of economic activity for the village.

The project is also linked to the government's Model Village Initiative, under which 23 communities have been identified for the programme's initial phase, four of them in Region Three. Manickchand recalled that President Dr Mohamed Irfaan Ali had visited communities across the region in person, setting out plans covering roads, drainage, lighting, recreational spaces, schools, health facilities and commercial areas. She described the model villages as places where infrastructure would function properly and where residents would have access to amenities such as the market now under construction.

Manickchand framed the wider initiative as a deliberate effort rather than a series of unconnected projects, telling those present that the developments were designed with long term outcomes in mind for both current residents and future generations.

On the practical details of construction, the market will be delivered in four lots, each assigned to a different contractor, with an 18 month timeline set for completion. Work is expected to begin within the coming weeks. Manickchand said supervision would be handled internally as well as by an external consultant, adding that contractors had been selected through an open and competitive bidding process. She said those contractors would be expected to meet their agreed timelines.

Manickchand also encouraged the contractors involved to prioritise hiring workers from Pouderoyen and the surrounding communities during construction, a request aimed at ensuring some of the economic benefit of the project reaches the area directly during the building phase itself.

Once completed, the market is expected to offer improved facilities for both vendors and shoppers, forming one part of the government's wider strategy to strengthen economic activity and support community development across Region Three. The project's progress over the coming months will indicate whether the ambitious cost and capacity targets set out at Saturday's ceremony can be met within the stated timeline.

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