Eric Karemeera, one of the concerned traders and Bugongi road village LC 1 chairman where the market is located, says the development of the market has stalled due to poor management by the division authorities.
Bugongi
market in Northern Division in Kabale municipality is in ruins. The market,
which operates on Friday and Sunday, attracts traders from Northern and Central
divisions in Kabale municipality as well as Nyamweru and Bubaare Sub-counties
in Rubanda district.
Northern
division authorities allocated stalls to traders at Shillings 20,000 each month
two years ago to generate revenue for the division. However, the market is in a sorry state. The roofs
of some of the stalls have collapsed.
The market is surrounded by bushes while
the toilets and drainage system are clogged. The vendors told our reporter that the failure
by authorities to erect a gate at the market has turned it into a safe haven
for criminals.
They also
say that it is risky to keep their merchandise in the market since there is no
power. They also faulted the method used by the authorities to allocate stalls,
which they say gave chance to wealthy people to get as many as ten stalls and
sub rent them to traders at Shillings 200,000 each.
Eric Karemeera, one of the
concerned traders and Bugongi road village LC 1 chairman where the market is
located, says the development of the market has stalled due to poor management
by the division authorities.
Karemeera says that authorities allocated the stalls to traders to generate
money without proper planning. According to Karemeera, due to the poor
allocation of the stalls, the market is congestion giving rise to competition for
space between tobacco, shoe and second-hand cloth vendors.
He says the hygiene
in the market is appalling due to nonfunctional toilets.
