Fresh hope for traders at sleepy Machinga Complex

Machinga Complex

 By Hellen Nachilongo

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Summary

• The Dar es Salaam City Council has sought Sh720 million from lenders to renovate the market so it can accommodate traders whose shops were destroyed by the Kariakoo Market fire in July

Dar es Salaam. The Sh12.4 billion Machinga Complex – which has been idle for a decade since its commissioning - may soon become one of the busiest markets in the country, an official has said.

This comes after the Dar es Salaam City Council sought Sh720 million from lenders to renovate the market so that it can accommodate traders whose shops were destroyed by fire at the Kariakoo Central Market on July 10, 2021.

The fire at the 47-year old Kariakoo Market left 224 businesses counting losses, forcing the government to move them to other available markets, including the Machinga Complex and the Kisutu Market.

The Machinga Complex manager, Ms Stella Mgumia, told The Citizen recently that the government - through the Regional Commissioner’s Office – has come up with the initiative to get funds to enable the former Kariakoo traders to operate with much ease at their new location.

She said lenders were in the final stages of releasing Sh720 million for the construction of partitions at the complex.

“Experts have already done the requisite evaluation and drawings on the partitioning, and we expect to start construction soon,” she said, adding that the over 200 traders – mostly those dealing in agricultural inputs - would soon secure trading chambers for them to operate in a business-friendly environment.

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The cost of constructing one partition is Sh3 million.

The Machinga Complex chairman, Mr Edwin Katoto, said that, although some traders were hesitant to move to the complex because of its unappealing environment, they expect to receive a big number of them after constructions of the partitions.

An agricultural inputs trader at the Kariakoo Market who plans to move to the Machinga Complex, Mr Hussein Kambi, has requested the government to help advertise their business relocation for customers to be well-appraised.

Mr Kambi said if prospective customers know of their new, improved trading location, they would surely operate their business profitably.

“The place is not bad for business. It only needs some renovation to attract customers. We can see how well vegetable traders are doing after they were aided to relocate to this place,” he said.

On July 21, President Samia Suluhu Hassan donated Sh100 million for the construction of a roof at Machinga Complex that hosted some 1,800 traders whose businesses were destroyed in a fire incident at the popular Kariakoo Market.

Hundreds of stores were burned down to ashes after a fire engulfed the country’s largest market, destroying property worth billions of shillings, leaving the traders with nowhere to conduct their business.