Lilongwe ponders multi-storey market facility
Lilongwe City Council (LCC) plans to construct a multi-storey market facility that will accommodate up to 5 000 vendors, deputy mayor Akwame Bandawe has said.
The announcement follows a visit to Ugandan Municipal Council of Jinja by the deputy mayor, the council’s chief executive officer (CEO) and the City Development Planning management team.
Bandawe led the LCC delegation that toured the Jinja Central Market, which was first constructed in 1932 and was gutted by fire twice.
The rehabilitation of the market cost the municipality council $10 million (about K47 billion) which the African Development Bank (AfDB) funded.
The facility has several bank agencies, a pre-school for children whose parents are vending, restaurants and clean sanitation.
“As a delegation, we are very impressed with the facility for traders here. We need to go on the drawing board and see how we can have a high-rise facility like this which will accommodate more people, improve sanitation and secure both the traders and those buying,” said Bandawe.
Lilongwe City Council has of late been struggling to accommodate thousands of vendors in more decent markets due to capacity problems.
Reeling from under-collection of city rates due to high rate of default, the council now looks forward to other stakeholders and the private sector players to sanitise the capital city.
LCC chief executive officer Richard Hara said the multi-storey market facility was in the city’s recently launched development plan and it will be followed.
In July last year, Lilongwe’s Tsoka Flea Market, the biggest in the city, was gutted by fire where merchandise worth billions of kwacha went up in flames as security and government officials suspected arson as the cause.
President Peter Mutharika who visited the burnt market suggested that the capital city needed a high-rise market facility that could accommodate more traders, ensure safety and security of users.
