The municipality of Walvis Bay has nearly completed the construction of its new open market at Kuisebmond.
The construction followed the Ministry of Urban and Rural Development’s observation that most towns did not have appropriate infrastructure to cater for trading activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The ministry requested that the local authorities faced with this challenge submit their market needs, number of traders and trading activities to assess how they could be assisted.
The market was built in response to a lack of appropriate markets that were supposed to meet the government’s Covid-19 standards for informal markets in 2020.
During that year, Walvis Bay only had one market, Ekutu Phase 1, and met some of the set requirements for operation.
The municipality, with the assistance of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and the ministry, thus embarked on building a market meeting the specified requirements.
The new market will have16 braai stands, 14 smaller lockable stalls, and three bigger stalls enclosed with two gates, sufficient ablution facilities, access to water, adequate space for social distancing, and adequate security.
The project, which was scheduled to start in December 2020, only started in March 2022 due to unforeseen circumstances.
It is intended for use by all vendors trading along the streets.
Traders are requested to contact the municipality’s economic development division to register.
While some traders are happy about the new market, others argue that the stalls do not face the street and are thus obscured from customers.
“The entrance faces the other side. We cannot see people on the main road.” says vendor Maria Eelu.
“It looks really nice, but I also want to call out to my customers on the street. I feel like they will not know where my stall is,” another vendor, David Jonas, says.
Jessica Jason says: “I like the idea, as it creates a clean look to the main road. Visitors will appreciate the clean street. People would still go in and buy products, because they know there is a market on the other side of the wall.”
Municipality spokesperson Anita Kaihiva says intensive consultations were held with the traders who were operating during the planning phase in 2019 and 2020, and the planning and designs were made to cater to their needs.
“We do recognise that some of the vendors selling along the pavement may feel that when they move inside the market they may lose clients.
“However, the whole idea is to have customers going inside to buy what they need in a conducive environment. It is shielded from the elements, uncontrolled movement and theft.
“When you are on the side of the road, you could be exposed to accidents. As soon as everybody moves in, customers will go inside. We’re hoping the vendors will embrace it and register,” she says.
Kaihiva says such markets are also tourist attractions, which makes sense if they are in a safe, controlled environment.
She says the municipality is looking forward to supporting local vendors.
The market is being constructed at a cost of about N$1,1 million.
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