Bumala and Malaba among Busia's 17 markets mapped for face-lifting

Current status of Bumala Market in Busia County. [Juliet Omelo, Standard]

Malaba and Bumala are among 17 markets in Busia County that have been earmarked for face-lifting.

 Senior Director State Department Housing and Urban Development Polycap Onyango said while Bumala will get an upgrade to a modern market at the tune of Sh250 million, Malaba which is a strategic market at the Kenya-Uganda border will get a facelift of Sh350 million.

Onyango spoke on Thursday during a site visit at the Bumala market where he said the remaining 15 markets will be face-lifted to the tune of Sh50 million each.

According to Onyango, the new market structure will have facilities like a cold room for fish storage, a social hall for meetings, and a breastfeeding room for lactating mothers.

"Traders here are going to enjoy luxurious facilities that will boost their morale which will translate into increased revenue for the county of Busia and the state at large," he added.

Onyango revealed that the contractor is expected to start work in 2 weeks adding that the total speculated duration for the contraction is 6 months.

"As soon as the market is done, existing traders will be given priority to take up the stalls before any other person, "he said.

He further asked the contractor to exhaustively make use of locally available manpower and resources in the project to create job opportunities for locals.

"No skills should be outsourced unless it isn't available here in Bumala, we want to make proper use of our young skilled people in the development of this market," he noted.

A trader selling tomatoes at the Bumala market in Busia County. [Juliet Omelo, Standard]

Currently, traders are transacting business in the open complaining of being affected by adverse weather conditions which often destroy their goods making them make huge losses.

"The construction of this market is long overdue and we want to thank the president through the State Department of Housing and Urban Development for giving us hope that soon it will be actualised. We go through a lot of trouble in this market sitting under the scorching sun and when it starts to rain it's even worse because our goods get rained on and we make losses," lamented Pauline Odongo, a fishmonger at the market.

Odongo noted that they currently have no facility that helps them store fresh fish to prevent it from going bad.

"We are glad that a cold room will be part of the new facilities that come with our new market It will go a long way in prolonging the shelf life of our fresh fish and other vegetables and we will forget the losses that have haunted us for decades," she said.

Phyllis Achieng, another trader expressed her concerns about the quality of the market to be done asking the contractor to do a good job that fits the budget given.

“We don't want after a short time to be told to vacate for repairs, the contractor should do quality work that will last for years without repairs," said Phyllis.

The county recently unveiled select housing committee members whose role will be to develop work plans that will foster smooth synergy between the county government and the national government in the development of the affordable housing project and provide updates to the president on the same.