Voice of Commonwealth

President Museveni commissioned new market to create jobs

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By P. Sarojini

UGANDA (CWBN)_President Museveni, in an attempt to battle the unemployment and to create job opportunities, commissioned a multi-billion modern market in the district of Tororo. This newly launched market is aimed to employ numerous youth and women in the district. The market was a Shs27.7 billion project which was built by the government under the Market and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme and funding for construction was provided by the African Development Bank.

The multi-billion modern market’s construction contract was given to the Korean-based firm Young Jin Construction Inc. Company. The market is vast enough to provide room for more than 1,500 vendors. Apart from the individual stalls, the market comprises of lockups, stores, banking institutions, a police post, a daycare center, solar lighting systems, fire extinguishers, fire outbreak detectors, cold storage facilities, warehouses, a water reservoir, etc. The market, which was opened by the President last weekend, started its construction work in 2018.

During the launch of the market, the President indicated that it is one of the efforts by the government to fight against the poverty. He referred to National Resistance Movement party (NRM) and said this development project is an idea of NRM to combat unemployment. The President said, “I now request the people to stop working for only their stomachs. They should work with good calculation to empower themselves, financially”. Further, similar markets have also been launched earlier by the NRM presidential flag bearer in the districts of Moroto and Soroti.

Mr Etedu, the national coordinator for Market and Agricultural Trade Improvement Programme, which is a leader in market construction, said that other completed markets in the districts of Busia, Lugazi, Kasese and Entebbe will be opened soon. He spoke about the benefits of these markets to the public and said “I ask local leaders to prepare their people to feed the facilities with commodities. People should use the markets to sell their produce and lift themselves out of poverty, which is the core objective”.

Mr Peter Okolong Langalanga, the chairperson of Tororo Market Vendors and Business Association, said that these markets will help the people fight poverty as well as increase their household incomes. He said, “”We are happy and we are going to work hard to chase poverty from our homes.”

Mrs Josephine Abbo, a vendor, asked the government to make sure that the municipal officials do not increase the tax nor collect other fees to run the market, but coordinate with the vendors in smooth operation of the market. She said, “We also pray that they give us a tax holiday to enable us to settle”.

Mr Paul Omoko, the town clerk remarked that this scheme will contribute to local revenue and simultaneously improve service delivery. The Tororo municipality MP Mr Yeri Apollo Ofwono advised the vendors to organize themselves to make use of the government programs such as Emyooga.

Edited by Elishya Perera

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