President Museveni has asked government planners to address the issue of new markets that are shunned by traders and becoming white elephants in the room.
Museveni complained that government injects a lot of money in the construction of modern markets which later turn out be white elephants, citing Wandegeya where vendors complain of poor accessibility by their clients.
“I have heard stories that when the market has several floors, people dont want to go up. I have heard it. Like Wandegeya market, the design should have been guided by advice from consumers so that you don’t build something people don’t use,”Museveni said on Saturday as he commissioned the new ultra-modern Tororo Main market in Tororo municipality in Bukedi sub-region.
The President asked the Ministry of Local Government which is responsible for the markets being constructed around the country through the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Program to first carry out consultations before the construction works commence.
“Planners should deal with it. The ministry should sort out it out,” he said.
Tororo market
Commenting about the newly opened Tororo Main market, the President said while others talk a lot about what they can do, the NRM just presents results to show what it can do for the people.
“People waste alot of time talking but NRM’s words is work,” Museveni said.
According to the State Minister for Labour, Jeniffer Namuyangu, the modern market has over 1000 facilities including lockups, stalls, shops, pitches, restaurants, food courts, daycare centre, butchery, cold rooms, clinic, pharmacy, fish facilities, fresh food facilities, warehouses, offices, solar facilities, water reservoir, stand-alone transformer for electricity and a public address system.
The market is also fitted with CCTV cameras connected to the central security system as well as fire-fighting equipment to be used in case of any fire outbreak
The shs27.7 billion Tororo Main Market was constructed under the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Program phase II (MATIP-2).
Government has in the past few years constructed similar markets in Jinja, Wandegeya(Kampala),Soroti, Moroto, Arua, Lira, Gulu, Lugazi, Kasese, Busia and Kitooro in Entebbe.
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