A Trader arranges her goods at her new space within the new Oloitiptip market in Kilifi town which was upgraded through funding from the World Bank(WB) under the Kenya urban Support program.
An overview of the OLoitiptip market in Kilifi town which was upgraded by the Municipality through the support of Kenya urban support program. A Mango trader displays her products at the Olotiptip market in Kilifi townThe new Olotiptip market was upgraded by the Municipality of Kilifi through the support of the world bank. The new access road leading to Oloitiptip market will ease access for suppliers and customers going to the market in Kilifi.
An initiative started by the Kilifi County to improve and rehabilitate its markets has now turned to be a success as it has given a face flit to the markets, increased vendor and customer confidence that has pushed in brisk business.
In Kilifi town for example, the county government through a World Bank(WB) funding completed a multimillion project of upgrading of the Old Oloitiptip market within the Central Business district.
The project was done under the support of the Kenya Urban support program that entails refurbishment of the market which was in a very dilapidated state and opening up of an access road to the facility.
Authorities from the devolved government through the Municipality of Kilifi identified the market as the starting point of revamping the economy of the town which is among the fastest-growing in the county.
Previously the market was in a bad state, congested with poor drainage and lighting system forcing some traders to operate from outside under the glaring heat of the sun.
During rainy season, the situation worsened and the facility posed a huge health hazard because of flooding.
But that is no longer the case because after its recent rehabilitation, the market is now fully with a completely new setup with proper spacing allowances drainage and lighting system inside.
Both traders and customers have proper spaces for operations and movement which makes it easier to do business in a spacious environment.
Chairman of the Oloitiptip market traders Mr Mataza Kilumo said the World Bank funded project has really transformed their work place which was previously in bad state.
He said previously, traders suffered during rainy season as they were operating from outside the facility.
“The market was really in bad state, many clients had to step on mud to access the products they wanted to buy which was not conducive for business,” he said.
Mr Kilumo hailed Kilifi governor Amason Kingi for pushing the project adding that they were happy it’s complete now and traders have a good area for working.
“We welcome everyone to come to Oloitiptip market, get inside and shall get everything they want from fruits, vegetables, cereals are available. To us business is now good only that there is a challenge of Covid-19 and we have to observe the government protocols,” he said.
The cereal trader said there is a special room for ripening bananas quickly but it’s yet to get a machine and asked the Municipality to look for funds and set up the cold room.
“We thank World Bank for the funding, they upgraded the market for us and are now opening for us an access road,” he said.
Kilifi CEC member for Lands, housing, energy and urban development Maureen Mwangovya said upgrading of Oloitiptip market built under the Kenya urban support program targeted upgrading of the market to the standards that it is in now.
The project she said was originally built under the municipality with a capacity of 68 traders but with the refurbishment they have now almost tripled that number to 168 traders.
“All the traders that were working inside and those operating outside have been able to get space now and that’s how we were able to have the number increased to 168,” she said.
She said the project shall also increase the revenue that the market will get for the county government and suppliers’ income will be boosted.
“Before there was no electricity at the market, it was not spacious as it is, the lighting was poor, the hygiene standards were also very poor but with the new project, we have traders working for longer hours meaning more income for them, “she said.
Moses Gunda chief officer in charge of housing physical planning and urban development said the county government did refurbish the Oloitiptip market and established a service lane
He said the project also introduced an upper level within the market premise that is aimed at accommodating other retail markets activities other than groceries and greeneries that are being sold at the market.
“Electricity installation has been done compared to what was there initially, the purpose of that was in essence to ensure the market can cooperate longer hours with the kind of installations that have been done,” he said.
Under the project he said they established a service lane which is meant to service the market and the plots which surround the Biashara street that is within the CBD.
The service lane he said is coupled with a lorry park for servicing the market adding that installation of streetlights is going on after the tarmacking of the service lane was completed.
He said the World Bank gave a loan to the national government and in turn the state department of housing and urban development is giving conditional grants to a loan the municipalities.
The Chief Officer said there are 59 municipalities in Kenya Two of which are in Kilifi County adding that the program was set up in two components which include urban institutional grant (UIG) which is meant to help strengthen the institutions of urban governance that is the municipal boards.
Further he said the second component comprise of the Urban development grant that is meant to do developments in terms of infrastructure within those municipalities.
“So, for Kilifi the project that was targeted was the refurbishment of Oloitiptip market, the funding structure was in such a way that it’s a 20 Us dollars that is given per capita so on the basis of the population as per the 2009 census Kilifi town had about 47,000 people,” he said.
He said the municipality received sh. 98 million which was used for opening up of the market and the access lane.
Gunda said the project had its own hiccups because they had to relocate the traders to upgrade it and also open up the access road that had also been encroached by so many structures.
“We were able through the development control unit to demolish the structures that were along that particular road built the temporary structures where the traders were able to operate,” he said.
The market serves the entire Kilifi County as it receives goods from Chonyi, Kaloleni, Bamba, Kilifi, Malindi while others are supplied from Kongowea and central Kenya.
There was an agreement between the traders and the municipality that required no trader would be outside the market at a distance of 500 meters including fruit vendors and vegetables all of them were forced to get inside.
Issa Nzovu Islam a fruit vendor who makes fresh juice said who is also deputy secretary of the market inherited the business from his late mother said previously he used to operate under an umbrella in the sun.
Normally during dry season, it was a major challenge due to excess heat but after the upgrading he got a stall at one of the strategic areas that is proper.
“Initially the stalls were very close to each other, where I was there were three tents with many traders, people were congested to an extent that in case of a disease outbreak it could have been dangerous,” he said.
Currently he said there is a sigh of relief even during this time of the Pandemic as everyone has space for work.
