By Johnson Kanyesige
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal husbandry and Fisheries (MAAIF) has directed the leadership of Hoima City to institute a new allocation committee in a bid to address the management of lock ups and stalls at Hoima central market.
Early this week, a team from the ministry conducted a two-day field visit in Hoima city especially at Hoima central market on an investigative agenda of why the market in the central business area of Hoima city and other government-built markets in the country have remained fetching low revenues.
The team tasked the city authorities to institute a seven-member allocation committee that will review the allocation of lock ups and stalls to ensure there are no more troubles as a result of vendors fighting for space in the market, according the deputy Lord Mayor Sylvia Nalumaga Balyesiima in an interview with Spice FM.
This was after it was discovered that the last allocation committee was instituted when vendors occupied the market seven years ago
Nalumaga reveals that the ministry also advised the city leadership to review the market dues charged from the traders in order to align it with what other markets are charging with a view of collecting increased revenue.
The team also advised to city leadership to focus on establishing the vendor databank in the market to ensure each vendor is known and what are their activities inside the market. Nalumaga further reveals that the ministry also guided on the zoning of traders to ensure that those selling similar commodities and items are given a particular space and area for easy identification and supervision.
Meanwhile, Balyesiima says the city authorities expect the new allocation committee to exhibit high integrity and ensure fairness in handling several issues that have crippled the growth and development in the market.
She advises the vendors to cooperate with the city leadership during the time of implementation of the changes in the market. She adds that they will look at engaging the market leadership and other stakeholders in a bid to agree on the implementation strategy of the forthcoming changes.
The facility that hosts 561 vendors in 358 stalls was constructed at a tune of Shs13 billion project funded by the African Development Bank (ADB) under the Markets and Agriculture Trade Improvement Project (MATIP) was constructed by Amugoli General Enterprises.
