Unoccupied stalls in Arua main market used as toilets

Arua, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Several unoccupied stalls at the newly constructed Arua main market in Central division are now being used to answer nature’s call despite the existence of thirteen public toilets at the facility.

The vendors in the market suspect that the despicable practice is being perpetrated by intruders, especially at night. They say that the suspected intruders normally sneak into the market in the evening and hide inside some of the unoccupied stalls on the first floor and thus get locked inside the market.

During a visit by URN on Wednesday, human waste was found in at least seven unoccupied stalls on the first floor of the market especially in the textile section. Meanwhile, four others stalls have been turned into urinary shelters where urine was found in containers including polyene bags.

Grace Aliru, a dealer in second-hand clothes at the market is worried of contracting diseases since some of the restaurants at the facility operate near the mess.

“This place where these people defecate smells bad and yet it’s just near the restaurants where we normally get our food. The city authorities need to address this situation”, Aliru said.

John Anguyo, the chairperson of second-hand cloth dealers in the market has blamed the mess on the failure by Arua city authorities to woo vendors who abandoned their stalls for street vending back to the market.

He says less than 30 vendors out of 349 vendors who signed tenancy agreements and were allocated stalls on the first floor have occupied their stalls in the textile section.

Micheal Adia, a vendor who deals in utensils on the first floor notes that they raised the concern to the authorities but no action has been taken. Adia says in case of disease outbreak, they will not hesitate to take legal action.

Muzaidi Khemis, the mayor for central division has condemned the act describing it as unhuman. He however attributed the delay by the vendors to occupy the stalls to the recent directive issued by the Minister for Local Government, Raphael Magyezi suspending activity in the market.

In January this year, vendors were relocated to Arua main market that was constructed under the Markets and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme (MATIP) with support from the African Development Bank at 34 billion shillings.

According to records at the office of the town clerk, to date, about 755 stalls have remained unoccupied.

*****

URN