The National Government, through the State Department of Housing and Urban Development, together with the county government, has launched two modern markets at Aroma in Matayos Sub County and Mungatsi in Nambale Sub County at a cost of Sh 100 million.
Both markets, which will cost Sh 50 million each are expected to be completed in a period of six months and will have a capacity of 200 traders each.
The markets will also have the ICT hub and lactating room for mothers.
Speaking during the launch of the projects, Busia County governor Paul Otuoma urged traders to join cooperatives and to benefit from the cooperative and revolving fund.
“We are going to have a modern market here but without capital, it won’t help us. That’s why I want to urge the trades to join the cooperatives so that to get funds from the Cooperative Enterprise Development Fund and Trade Development and Revolving Fund to grow their business because these funds have been set aside to benefit traders,” he said.
The governor gave an assurance that his government will work closely with the national government to ensure there are developments in the county.
“We have lagged in terms of development as the county. We have made a commitment to work with the national government to ensure we change the situation in our county. We are going to give out our land as the county government for development and where need be, we are going to buy land so that this development can be done in our county and benefit our people,” he said.
Otuoma further urged the residents to engage in agricultural production so that they can have products to sell in the new markets.
“Let’s go to our farms now if we want to own our market because if we lack something to sell, other people will have to operate the market. We will have ICT hubs at the market; let’s use the hub to do online business to market our goods and make content that will create employment and generate money for us.” He said.
Senior Director, State Department of Housing and Urban Development, Polycarp Onyango directed the contractor to ensure the beneficiary of the project is the local people.
“The president has directed that all the raw material used in the project must be sourced locally. When it comes to the skills, unless it is proven that the required skills are not found locally, the local people must be given the priority to work on the project,” he said.
He also asked the contractor to ensure that the agreed timeline is met and the work done should be of required quality.
“We will be visiting these sites every time to see how the work proceeds. The contractor must finish this work on time and should be of high quality,” he said, adding that this financial year the government has spent a lot of money on development projects across all sub-counties in Busia County.
Nambale MP Geoffrey Mulanya warned the traders of selling their stalls urging them to ensure they do business at assigned space.
“We want those people who have been working at these markets to be given first priority when the markets are done. We know some people do sell their stalls but this act will hinder you from developing your business. If you are feeling difficulties in your business, you can look for alternatives including getting loans from cooperative funds from the county government,” he said.
He urged the County Government to ensure they create fertiliser stores at Mungatsi to save people in Nambale Sub-County from moving long distances to get fertiliser.
“We understand that the national government has given subsidised fertiliser but accessibility remains a challenge to many people. I am urging the county government to create a store here at Mungatsi so that our people can easily access this fertiliser to increase food production,” he said.
By Rodgers Omondi and Salome Alwanda
