The Permanent Secretary for State Department of Housing and Urban Development, Charles Hinga on Saturday led government officials in the ground breaking event for the upgrade of Gikomba market to a modern facility.
Phase one of the project aims to construct 560 modern stalls for the traders, some of whom lost merchandise worth millions of shillings recently when fire ravaged the temporary market stalls.
The market, which is the largest informal market in East Africa, has been the subject of several fire incident that have led to the loss of lives and millions of shillings in property.
Speaking during the event, PS CharlesHinga who was accompanied by Kamukunji MP Yussuf Hassan, said that the project was on top of the government’s agenda. The project will delay no further as the contractor has been ordered to speed up the process by working round the clock.
Once completed, the project will help traders get modern facilities to continue with their businesses in a safe, secure and dignified market infrastructure.
The government expects to spend up to Sh. 480 million in the first phase of the project which will be the first project to modernize the market. However, the government has a bigger plan to redevelop the entire market at a total cost of Sh. 3 billion over the next two years according to a plan unveiled by City Hall in July this year.
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