St. George’s, February 16, 2011 (GIS) – The Grenada Government has moved a step closer to the start of work on the Grenville Market Development Project, which includes the construction of an abattoir.

A pre-bidding meeting for tenders interested in securing the contract for work on the abattoir was held Wednesday, February 16, at the Conference Room of the Ministry of Works, St. George’s.

The six contractors – four Grenadians and two Trinidadians – were thanked for submitting their bids by Hon. Joseph Gilbert, Minister of Works, Physical Development and Public Utilities.

He was joined at the meeting by Chief Technical Officer, Cecil Harris; engineer and Grenville Market Project Coordinator, Patrick Martin; and by two representatives of the consulting firm for the project.

Mr. Harris said work on the project is expected to begin within two months.

The abattoir is only one component of the Grenville Development Project, which also involves a new market square and bus terminus, as well as the upgrading of the town’s drainage system.

The project is being financed through a loan of more than $11 million from the Caribbean Development Bank (CDB), which says the aim is to assist Grenada in its attempts at the “redevelopment of Grenville Town as the regional urban centre servicing the northern and eastern coasts’’ of the nation.

CDB officials have said that apart from physical structures such as the abattoir and bus terminus, the project also calls for the “establishment of appropriate management structures’’ that will “enhance administrative capacity and capability. The project also provides for training of vendors and butchers and public awareness and education programmes to promote the use of the facilities, particularly the abattoir.’’