New open market fails to impress
A week after its inauguration, the Wilbard Haindongo Open Market on the outskirts of Ongwediva looks like a ghost town.
The Ongwediva town council and a development agency have jointly spent N$766 000 on building an open market at Oshiko on the outskirts of Ongwediva, but vendors have already abandoned it after it was inaugurated last week. Urban and rural development minister Peya Mushelenga inaugurated the open market on Friday, 22 June, and at the occasion, said it signified the government's commitment to bringing services closer to the people and to address socio-economic challenges.
The town council had started the construction of the open market, named after a liberation icon Wilbard Haindongo, in 2015 but it was only completed last year.
When Namibian Sun visited the market on Tuesday afternoon there was only a single security guard and no vendors. Vendors have informed Namibian Sun that the place is not ideal for business.
“The place is not strategically located. Firstly, it is situated at a very quiet place without many people. Secondly, it is situated out of public reach. Very few people will drive to that open market to get what they want,” said one vendor.
He added that the town council was supposed to create an enabling environment before establishing the open market.
“If we go to that open market nobody will buy our products. It is better we remain at our illegal areas where we get support from our old customers instead of going to the open market just to pay municipal fees while not generating anything,” he said.
The market is designed to accommodate more vendors in the future, but currently has 20 vending spaces for sellers of kapana, fruit, vegetables, traditional beverages and health products.
The town council's spokesperson, Jackson Muma, said that the open market was constructed at the request of the public, as many people were found trading at undesignated sites.
“That area is a new location and we are busy developing it into a township. More people will be going that side and we realise that there is a need for the open market.
“The council heeded the people's call to establish an open market to cater for people who are currently there and those who are still coming. Since the open market is new there might be no people now, but that is an area where development is taking place.
“We also need to remove the vendors from selling in the streets and create a place where they can sell legally. This is just a start and people are still getting used to the new infrastructure,” Muma said.
He said two registered vendors were already operating at the open market.
ILENI NANDJATO
The town council had started the construction of the open market, named after a liberation icon Wilbard Haindongo, in 2015 but it was only completed last year.
When Namibian Sun visited the market on Tuesday afternoon there was only a single security guard and no vendors. Vendors have informed Namibian Sun that the place is not ideal for business.
“The place is not strategically located. Firstly, it is situated at a very quiet place without many people. Secondly, it is situated out of public reach. Very few people will drive to that open market to get what they want,” said one vendor.
He added that the town council was supposed to create an enabling environment before establishing the open market.
“If we go to that open market nobody will buy our products. It is better we remain at our illegal areas where we get support from our old customers instead of going to the open market just to pay municipal fees while not generating anything,” he said.
The market is designed to accommodate more vendors in the future, but currently has 20 vending spaces for sellers of kapana, fruit, vegetables, traditional beverages and health products.
The town council's spokesperson, Jackson Muma, said that the open market was constructed at the request of the public, as many people were found trading at undesignated sites.
“That area is a new location and we are busy developing it into a township. More people will be going that side and we realise that there is a need for the open market.
“The council heeded the people's call to establish an open market to cater for people who are currently there and those who are still coming. Since the open market is new there might be no people now, but that is an area where development is taking place.
“We also need to remove the vendors from selling in the streets and create a place where they can sell legally. This is just a start and people are still getting used to the new infrastructure,” Muma said.
He said two registered vendors were already operating at the open market.
ILENI NANDJATO
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