Martin Endjala
At its last council meeting on 31 August the Windhoek Municipality has resolved to approve the upgrading of the Onghendambala Market for informal traders on erf 3222 on Eveline Street in the Goreangab residential area.
The council approved a request by the VISET Namibia, who received funding from the Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) through the American Embassy, to use the funds for the upgrading of the Onghendambala Market.
The value of the upgrades is costed at N$643 266 and the upgrades, which include fencing of the entire market area to protect the site from encroachment and illegal occupation and to make space available for future development.
Other improvements would be ventilation on the eastern side of the market space, repainting the entire market and installing shade nets and sliding doors.
The market is in the Samora Machel Constituency and councillor Nestor Kalo welcomed the new addition to the vibrant business environment of the popular street.
He stressed for the upgrades to be carried out urgently to bring the market to the standard of Shetu and Ongava markets.
The refurbished market will provide storage facilities for the vendors, who wont have to carry their stock back and forth anymore to their homes, as well as increase working hours since the market will have security as it will be fenced off, with sliding doors that can be locked.
The growth and spread of the informal food sector prompted the City to adopt a spatial enclosure
strategy by constructing a series of fixed or open markets under the 1999 City of Windhoek development and upgrading strategy.
In 2014 according to reports by Namibia Economist, the Mayor of Windhoek noted that “the open markets provide a suitable and safe trading area that can be utilized and enjoyed by the traders and the community.
The City has made provision for a total of sixteen open markets and has also allocated unimproved trading sites on a temporary basis to regulate trading and maintain acceptable hygiene and safety standards”.
The City of Windhoek Head of communications Lydia Amutenya could not confirm the exact date the improvements will start, saying that ministerial approval is still pending.
