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Govt closes city arcades over SOPs
Traders seated outside one of the closed city arcades downtown Kampala. PHOTO/MICHAEL KAKUMIRIZI
What you need to know:
- KCCA said there are currently nine inspection teams on ground that are enforcing the SOPs
Kampala City’s Covid-19 inspection team yesterday temporarily closed arcades for allegedly operating illegally and violating standard operating procedures (SOPs).
The arcades include Moonlight, Light, Arua Park A, Arua Park B, Giant Plaza, and Justine Arcade, among others.
By press time yesterday, the inspection team was still combing the city to enforce SOPs in city arcades and more non-compliant arcades could have been closed.
KCCA’s head of public and corporate affairs Daniel Nuwabiine said there are currently nine inspection teams on ground that are enforcing the SOPs.
He said these teams meet every evening at 7pm to make a report of what transpired.
“When these teams return from field, they hold a zoom meeting and then make a comprehensive report of what transpired. It’s not possible to know the number of arcades which were closed because the teams are many and we only get a report the next morning at 8am [today],” he said.
The closed arcades are among the 70 which Kampala minister Minsa Kabanda at the weekend said they wouldn’t reopen until they meet the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).
Traders, who had opened their shops in the two arcades, feigned ignorance of the minister’s directive.
Sealed off
Their pleas to allow them operate as they enforced the recommended SOPs fell on the deaf ears of the inspection officers, who put seals on the entrances of the two arcades.
Mr Nuwabiine warned landlords against defying government directives and that any attempt to illegally reopen arcades will lead to prosecution.
He said there is a checklist of what landlords must meet before reopening their arcades.
However, we were unable to speak to the owners of the closed arcades as they reportedly vanished during inspection.
The checklist includes, among others, presence of compliance officers at all entrances of arcades, free corridors and access ways, observance of proper hygiene and sanitation, adequate lighting and ventilation, dedicated entry and exit, registration of tenants , installation of CCTV cameras, use of sanitisers, social distancing, and approved building plans.
Meanwhile, the 76 arcades which government cleared to reopen resumed operations yesterday amidst strict observance of SOPs.
But traders told Daily Monitor that there was low turn-up of customers.
“We have been away for close to two months and a lot of things have changed. We are just trying to reorganise ourselves and see how we can put food on the table and also pay the cumulative rental arrears. But the problem now is that people have no money to buy clothes which majority of us deal in,” Ms Gloria Ainembabazi, a trader at Ham Shopping Arcade, said.
