UGANDA, Busega | Real Muloodi News | The highly anticipated Busega Market in Lubaga division is 99 per cent finished. Arab Contractors Uganda Ltd are expected to hand over the project at the end of the month.
According to Ben Kumumanya, Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Local Government, the contractor has just 1% of the remaining tasks to finish the project:
- Constructing cooking stoves for the kitchen
- Making a cold room
- Solar system installation
- Creating a rooftop parking drainage system
The initiative is supported by the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa (BADEA) as part of the Government of Uganda’s Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme (MATIP).
BADEA funded the first phase of the facility’s development at the cost of $5.42 million (approximately 19 Billion Shillings).
In comparison, the Ugandan government funded the second phase with US$ 6.8 million (about 23.8 Billion Shillings).
The market features stores, stalls, open areas, restrooms, parking, and ramps for those with disabilities (PWDs). It can accommodate at least 2,000 dealers at any given moment.
The Kampala Capital City Authority – KCCA intended to launch the market in December 2021, while they also planned to open the Kasubi Market. However, the Ministry of Local Government couldn’t hand over the market, citing pending construction works.
According to Henry Bukenya, the KCCA’s Commercial Services Manager, the local government has changed handover dates to allow the contractor to finish the remaining work. He expects to hand over the market to KCCA by the end of February 2022.
Priority will be given to sellers in the present Busega market, some of whom operate at the roadside due to scarcity of marketspace.
“The vendors have been registered and shall be allocated space before new entrants are admitted to the market when it opens. There are over 1500 vendors already registered,” says Bukenya.
Salongo Bugembe, the market’s chairperson, claims that opening the market will spare merchants from working on the roadside, where they are vulnerable to accidents and weather impacts.
Bugembe requested the government boost the fish vending sector because the number of vendors had increased from 50 to over 200 fish merchants when they established the plan over a decade ago. He also wants the government to build feeder roads to the market and improve access from the Northern Bypass.
Bugembe has also requested that the government reserve rooftop parking for merchants while expanding lower parking for customers. He wants the homeowners in proximity compensated and persuaded to vacate the land for market expansion.
Last month, the KCCA ramped up operations to pull street merchants off the roads as part of its Smart City drive to decongest the city and preserve order.
Consequently, Busega Market is one of the markets that will potentially house some of the merchants chased from Kampala’s streets.
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