People unlike rats and other tiny scavengers should put up best in clean environment where they can move and carry on their daily chores and without the risk of exposure to diseases.
Sellers at the Muthurwa market in Nairobi’s down town are however operating in deplorable situations that leave them at the mercy of God.
All entries to the market are apparently dump sites in acting capacity; buyers have to tip toe to access the market or risk walking with dirt and stench on their shoes.
Vegetable and fruit remains dominate the entrances, with mud and water that seems not to dry up worsening the situation.
Someone visiting that area of town for the first time would not get an impression of an existence of a market beyond the walls that are nearly falling off covered with tattered polythene papers hanging all over all working together to form an eyesore.
Sellers use the polythene bags as shelter from direct sunlight and rain; others cover the spaces meant for ventilation to create extra space to display their wares.
The market has no walk ways as merchandise has been placed all over, buyers risk paying damages should they accidentally step on a fruits spread on the ground from lack of enough stalls.
Health is a right of every person in the market be it a seller or a buyer; but when it rains, the market is rendered in a pathetic situation. For lack of shelter, goods are rained on and the cold exposes the people to various diseases especially those of respiratory nature.
One would wonder why the smell of urine fills up the air in the slightest of rain drops, leading to the question – are there enough toilets within this market and how well maintained are they?
Probably the revelation would explain why the overpopulated market has the ‘smell’ of a disease harboring environment.
At which point I say the Nairobi Governor Dr Evans Kidero has more than a plateful of issues to handle to fulfill his pledge of reviving Nairobi’s lost glory.
This market was constructed to improve the working environment of hawkers and keep them off the city centre. Several other markets may be in such a situation, however the case for Muthurwa is quite different as it does not to fulfill its intended purpose.
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