08 August 2006
The Transport and Technical Services department has now completed the drainage project in the Central Market two weeks ahead of schedule and the final cost is below budget.
The project, which finished on Sunday 26 February, involved the replacement of the old Victorian underground drainage system with a modern new one. It involved a lot of careful planning and operation as it was important not to effect the trading operations of the market. The old drainage system had to be kept operational while the new system was installed. In order to ensure the safety of the market users, work, which was done by the TTS Drainage Infrastructure Section, was carried out overnight and on Sundays when the market was closed.
“I have seen how hard the staff has worked on this project and I have been very impressed,” said John Farley one of the market stall holders. “They managed to return the market to proper order on a daily basis, so that traders and customers would not know there had been such extensive works overnight.”
In a second phase of the project, further renovation and maintenance work will be carried out at a later date.
The Minister for Transport and Technical Services, Deputy Guy de Faye, who has responsibility for the Island ’s public markets, said he was delighted that the work had been completed ahead of time. “This was a tricky and logistically complex job that has been carried out in an exemplary manner. All the workers involved should be credited with achieving an excellent result on behalf of the public.”