The Nakuru County government has set aside Sh240 million to build a fish market in the Karai area of Naivasha to end fish hawking on the busy Nairobi-Nakuru highway and revolutionise the fish trade in the region.
The modern multipurpose market will be set up under a partnership between the county and two development partners - the Eastern Africa Grain Council and the Rockefeller Foundation through its Food Initiative Programme.
The first phase, the county boss said, will cost Sh80 million, with the county coughing up at least Sh10 million and partners providing Sh70 million.
“The project will completely alter the economic landscape of this area and provide job opportunities to hundreds of locals who depend on fish farming in the region,” Mr Kinyanjui said.
“It will be a game-changer for the youth who have been selling fish by the roadside. They are exposed to dangers of fast-moving vehicles and the fish is exposed to irregular temperatures and contamination.”
For a long time, traders, mainly young people, have been hawking raw fish at low prices on the busy Nairobi-Nakuru highway.
"The first phase of the project will have been completed in five months. It will mainly be a fish market with a value addition component,” the governor said.
“The market will encourage value addition as it will have restaurants where the fish will be cooked and will also offer opportunities to package it and even make fish fillets. This means they will sell the fish at a higher price.”
Nakuru County Tourism Executive Raymond Komen said the county will fence off the two-acre parcel of land and build sanitary facilities as the project takes off.
“We hope to complete the entire project by 2022, with 300 modern stalls in an eco-friendly environment,” he said.
The market will start operating at the beginning of next year, complete with additional features like waste management.
Mr Komen has described the project as a big boost to fish farming in Nakuru, which he says will revitalise the trade.
The county is now banking on the multimillion-shilling market to tame the age-old fish hawking on the highway, which has been declared a health hazard.
For instance, in 2018, the departments of Fisheries and Public Health banned the trade, saying it was illegal and unhealthy.
Traders sell fish to motorists on the highway near Kinungi trading centre, with dozens of young people involved.
The executive director of the Eastern Africa Grain Council, Gerald Masila, said water will be harvested within the market using solar power.
"We will also set up a solar system to power the market and save on electricity costs,” he said.
The garbage collected, he said, will be sorted between organic and inorganic waste, with 100 percent being recycled.
