Contractor hands over Shs21b Mbarara market to govt

Roko Construction Limited on Monday handed over the newly constructed Mbarara Central Market to city authorities and apologised to the vendors over delays, citing Covid-19 induced challenges.
 The Local Government ministry in 2018 contracted to Roko to build the market at the heart of Mbarara City in a space of two years but it has delayed until now.
 While handing over the new facility on Monday in Mbarara City, Roko manager Danison Blas assured the government of the quality of the works and explained that like many other projects in the country, Mbarara Central Market ran into Covid-19 glitches.

 “The problems we faced were not unique to Roko; other sectors of the economy struggled to cope with the pandemic but finally, we have finished the project,” Mr Blas said.
 “We want to thank the people of Mbarara for their patience. We are sorry if we caused you some pain but we are sure that next time, we shall do better not only for here but also for Uganda,” he added.

 The project manager, Eng Emmanuel Mwebaze, said the market is fully complete though it is still under the defects liability period up to the end of the year.
“The contractor had financial challenges that would even lead to the termination of the contract but the market is now complete in the proposed value. I will ask the consultant to make an assessment. We hope that any other issues that arise during this time will be sorted within the given time possible,” Mr Mwebaze said.
He added: “The market is now under the resettlement process of the vendors that had been shifted to the Independence Park.”
The assistant commissioner at the Ministry of Local Government, Mr Geoffrey Ettedu, said the project is meant to improve the welfare of the vendors.

“For those of you that are coming to operate here, you should know that there is solar in the building, except for the lock ups and kitchen where the users will have to pay for their own power,” Mr Ettedu said.
He said the vendors who will be allowed to operate from the market will be those that the ministry registered in 2010, 2016, 2018 and 2020, and lists of those given first priority will be displayed on the notice boards.
“We have harmonised the lists and we will display them where everyone can see. When that list is displayed, the leaders should emphasise that the real owners occupy the facility and allocation of the 425 lockups will be done through the use of a raffle,” Mr Ettedu said.

READ: Optimism as Mbarara Central Market nears completion

He added: “The authority of the market is in the hands of the council. We will try as much as possible to be very transparent because we do not want people to miss out. As a ministry, our responsibility is to facilitate the process.”
Mbarara City Mayor Robert Mugabe Kakyebezi said he will not allow people who were not formerly in the market to occupy it.

“We shall follow the guidelines of the ministry in resettling vendors and lucky enough, I know all the vendors that were shifted to the Independence Park,” Mr Kakyebezi said.
The deputy city commissioner, Mr Christopher Aine, said now that the market is complete, they will not expect vendors on the streets of the city.
“I have warned the street vendors; when the market is open, roads will not be a place for selling groceries,” Mr Aine said.