Nakuru town hawkers and Street Traders Association now want the County Government of Nakuru to relocate the county mortuary (formerly municipal mortuary) to create space for the construction of another hawkers complex.
Speaking on Tuesday morning at the Wakulima market, chairman of the Hawkers Association, Simon Ole Nasieku, said that the mortuary should be relocated to a place far from town because it occupies alot of space which could otherwise be put into productive use.
Nasieku said that the current space which has been allocated to hawkers is not enough and more space needs to be provided.
“The county mortuary sits on a lot of space and we propose that it should be moved somewhere else and the space be used to put up a new hawkers complex because we cannot all fit here. The mortuary can even be moved far from town because having hawkers at that space will generate more money as compared to what the morgue is generating,” said Nasieku.
He blamed the government for failing to capture the railway land when it was offered for leasing saying the place would have been the most viable for a hawkers complex.
“The railway land where a hotel and a petrol station is being put up by a private developer would have been the best place for us but the government never took it seriously and the land landed into the hands of a private developer,” he said.
Nasieku said that hawkers should not be taken far away from town because most of their customers operate from town and taking them to far flung places will be like denying them customers.
“You cannot take us to a place like free-area because we rely on customers who work and operate from town and we therefore need to be close to town where our clients will find it easy accessing us,” he said.