The recent recarpeting of the Kitale-Lodwar Highway through the busy Makutano Trading Centre in Kapenguria Town of West Pokot County has brought good tidings among the small business community operating along the busy highway.
Small business operators, especially those with temporary stalls and makeshift business premises along the highway say they have been saved from the dust that has been driving away potential customers because of the poor state of the tarmac road.
They said the highway had turned into an earth road hence emitting plumes of dust that compromises the hygiene standards of their business environments due to air pollution.
Charles Rono, operating a fruits and salads stall along the road told KNA that his business has received a boost since the road was recarpeted.
He said customers now flood her mobile stall owing to the improved hygiene standards after the repair works were done.
“I was thinking of closing down this business of selling fruits because of the dust emanating from the highway whenever vehicles pass. Thanks to the recarpeting of the highway hence reduced dust emission,” said Rono.
He said residents, since the announcement of the Covid-19 pandemic, have been very cautious about the sanitation standards of their environments hence any food joint that seems exposed to any form of air pollution are shunned.
The roadside town residents are appealing for the upgrading of the Highway into a dual carriage status owing to the increasing traffic in the town.
By Richard Muhambe
