The project aims to improve the overall presentation and the quality of service offered by vendors and other entrepreneurs conducting business at the Market on Jn. Baptiste Street.
Commenced in February 2023, the project has an expected completion date of February 12th, 2025. Castries Central MP Richard Frederick says the project is near completion and on schedule. The completion of this project would fall within the government’s Year of Infrastructure, designated for industrial projects.
“The box back is on schedule. I don't know off the top of my head [the completion date] but what I can tell you, it's on schedule. And whatever date it is supposed to be delivered, it will be delivered without delay,” he said.
The project contractor is Construction and Industrial Equipment (CIE) Ltd. The Box Park will be a two-storey rectangular structure designed to meet the needs of tenants offering a diverse range of services. The ground floor will feature 16 convenience shops, 8 fish vending shops, 6 meat vending shops, and 2 toilets with a closet for janitors. The first floor will feature a combination of 12 shops (bars and restaurants), male and female toilets and dining and circulation spaces.
Fish vendors, who are to also benefit from the cubicles in the building, are pleased with that announcement. Their presence on the sidewalk alongside the Castries Market has received much criticism.
“I don’t have an issue with the building they’re building. I think that’s a good idea. All that was part of the plan to shift was. We are there [on the sidewalk] temporarily until everything is complete,” one vendor identified as Ian said.
The vendors also took offense to recent statements made by former Castries Mayor, Peterson Francis, who says they keep the sidewalks untidy. He also called for the removal of the fish vendors from the space on Jn. Baptiste Street.
“If I become Mayor again, you’re telling me the fellows selling fish by the roundabout there, you’re telling me that is something I would allow to happen? That doesn’t mean because I say I would not allow it to happen that means I am not going to work with them,” the former Mayor said.
Said a vendor in response, “We’ll never feel good about that. When you’re thinking of moving us, where will you put us? You can see guys sweeping and cleaning there. The [CCC] still clean up after. Not everything you clean will stay clean. But at the end of the day, we still pile up our garbage and tidy the place.”
The project is financed by the World Bank, through the OECS Regional Tourism Competitiveness Project (ORTCP). The Project principally aims to improve selected tourist sites in Castries.