Burundi: Another appointment to open rehabilitated markets

Ramadhan Nkurikiye, Chairman of the Commission in charge of rehabilitated markets in the capital Bujumbura says the delay of materials, the payment of guarantee fee by traders and the large number of stands are among the major causes of the delay of the opening of the six rehabilitated markets. “The construction of the stands requires a lot of tubes and sheet metals reason why the markets could not be opened as scheduled on May 30. The company in charge of constructing these markets has already ordered the rest of the lacking materials,” he says.

Musaga Market would be opened as soon as possible

He, however, says the company struggled to do its job after a breakdown of its machines. “Any other difficulty experienced by the company is linked to the responsibility of traders. Some of them have not yet honored their commitment as to the payment of the advance for construction,” he says adding that only half of them had already paid until May 30.

In Kinama market, in north of the capital Bujumbura, out of 2085 stallholders, only 1035 had paid, while 1320 out of a total of 2095 were registered in Jabe market. “This attitude slows down the supply of materials and the smooth progress of the construction activities,” he says.

Out of seven markets rehabilitated in the capital Bujumbura, three (Kinama, Jabe and Ruziba) would opened by July 2018. Ramadhan Nkurikiye says the Musaga market is already ready and will be opened this week.

Traders from those markets did not seem to be convinced. “How can a company win a construction market whereas it does not have the capital to buy materials?” wonders a trader met in Kinama market. He also says traders who have already paid could not be victims of those who haven’t yet paid their advance. “The commission would allow us to build our own stands”, says another trader.

Another trader says those who have not paid an advance are reluctant because things are not clear.”The ongoing postponements of the opening date constitute an evidence,” he says.

The EU had given four million euro that helped for the rehabilitation of the six markets namely Kanyosha, Musaga, Jabe, Ngagara, Kinama, and Kinindo market as well as the construction of the new Ruziba market.