At least 50 arcades in the city centre have not yet been recommended for reopening after they failed to meet the minimum requirements issued by government after it eased the Covid-19 lockdown.
The move comes as the Kampala Capital City Authority(KCCA) continues its inspection exercise of shopping arcades for compliance with the set procedures.
Among those are; Mabrizi City Plaza, Kizito Towers, Mutasa Kafero, Gaza Land, Zam Zam Businesses Centre, Nabukera Plaza among others.
Speaking to the media in Kampala, the state Minister for Kampala, Kabuye Kyofatogabye, said that of the 120 non-complaint arcades and malls, 50 of them are “substantially” non-compliant.
He said the major issues affecting what he called the “provisionally failed” and “failed” arcades and malls is lack of toilets, no office parking, have basements that have been converted into shops, have no running water and some have no fire escape routes.
Kyofatogabye said that all building owners of non-compliant buildings have been served with defects or noncompliance notices that detail the corrective measures that have to be undertaken before re-inspection.
“Within seven (7) days, starting today [Friday 13th], the inspection teams will be ready to go back to the buildings that seek re-inspection for clearance to open upon notification of the town clerk by the property proprietor or administrator. We trust that by early next week, 197 arcades out of the 247 total should be open. Attached is the list of arcades and their operational status,” he said.
He said that their enforcement teams continue to ensure that all streets are devoid of vendors while they encourage those trading in irregular spaces to move into the markets.
As at Wednesday August 11 2021, a total of two hundred and forty-seven (247) arcades had been inspected of which only 127 were recommended for opening while 120 were not recommended for re-opening.
