Traders decry closure of city market

Traders evicted from the new multi-million dollar Nyarugenge market on Wednesday said they are set to lose hundreds of millions of francs, following what they described as “unexpected and illegal closure” of the market by Kigali City Council. The City administration ordered the closure of business on the city complex, with immediate effect, citing illegal opening of the facility and non conformity to standards set by the construction office. But some traders remained adamant yesterday.Eviction of the traders which started Wednesday morning was still ongoing yesterday. According the City administration, the facility lacks safety requirements like CCTV cameras, walk-through machines, metal detectors and car-check mirrors.“Kigali City decided to close all operations at the building because it lacks several safety requirements,” Bruno Rangira, the city Director of media and communication, told this newspaper.Rangira said Kigali City C ouncil had requested the market proprietors to first fulfil all the requirements and seek approval from the city construction centre before commencing their businesses, which they never did.Panic ensued as officials from KCC, accompanied by police and local defence, moved in to enforce the order. The eviction is meant to pave way for fixing of the requirements.However, the tenants and owners of the building described the eviction as “illegal”, and that it would have a negative impact on their businesses.The over Rwf20 billion facility owned by a group of local investors, Kigali Investment Company, houses over 350 tenants, including commercial banks, hair dressing saloons, wholesale shops, dealers in perishable goods, clothes and hardware.James Rudasingwa, one of the proprietors, who is in charge of communication and security at the facility, downplayed the city’s argument, accusing the authorities of being reluctant to grant them occupation permits.“We wrote to them on November 25, 2011, requesting them to come and inspect the facility and to also give us the occupation permit, but we didn’t get any response,” he said.According to the law, failure to get a response from the administration gives a go-ahead to that applicant to do what they had requested.“We waited for about four months to get a response in vain. We had no option but to open the business as the law prescribes,” he explained.Rudasingwa noted that they hired a security firm to ensure the security of the building and the occupants.“We have a contract with a security company responsible for the safety of the building. The firm is registered in Rwanda and with trained personnel, security equipment and all the required documents,” said Rudasingwa.“We don’t know the mistakes we committed as investors; even other buildings are operating without those things they are telling us. This shouldn’t be the reason to close the building since it is secure. Those things they are requesting for would have come later as we had agreed,” he added.On Tuesday, the owners of the commercial complex had held a meeting with a committee from Kigali City Council and agreed to install the facilities within two weeks. They also agreed that the tenants would continue their business as they installed the safety gadgets.“These can’t be the reason not to be given an occupation permit because they came up months later after we had requested for the permit,” “We were, therefore, surprised to hear that they came and closed shops, stopped traders and buyers from entering. This happened unexpectedly….so sad…we never expected it. We can’t say that we opened without the required documents since they never fulfilled their obligations,” observed Rudasingwa.“They should compensate all those who will incur losses as a result of their illegal actions. Even if they decided to carry out their orders, they would have informed the traders and give them time, but not doing it the way they did,” he stated.Rudasingwa also pointed out that following the closure of the building, they constituted a committee to meet with the city administration.“The committee went there at about 11:00am [Thursday], but they were barred from entering any office or to meet any official. We had no option but to write to them asking the circumstances under which they carried out the orders; but up to now, we haven’t received any response; we are just stranded, not knowing what to do next,” he lamented.The building is owned by ten businessmen, formerly traders at the city commercial street, Quartier Matheus. When The New Times visited the place yesterday, few shops were open and a few clients could be seen entering the building.The traders opened their businesses on March 1, 2012.Rangira explained that KCC had made arrangements for vendors of perishable goods at the building to continue selling until their stocks ran out to avoid losses.

National

Traders decry closure of city market