From No to Go: County now backs Karai fish market completion

Well, the county government seems to have had a change of heart again as it is now pursuing the completion of the Sh. 239 million Karai Fish market in Naivasha East ward.

According to a Facebook post on their official page, the project has been handed over to the contractor for the commencement of Phase 2.

The project handover, attended by the County Secretary, Dr Samuel Mwaura, is expected to include repairing the structure’s roofing with plexiglass to prevent rainwater seepage, building and equipping a modern kitchen, an ablution block, and installing a cold room for fish storage.

Additionally, access roads and parking will be constructed, a septic tank installed for improved waste management, and electrical lighting throughout the market will be installed.

All this is, once again, expected to be completed in six months.

In February, Mtaa Wangu highlighted how the same administration had announced plans to abandon the very same project.

At the time, the skeletal structure had stood idle and unattended, with Dr. Mwaura citing poor oversight by elected leaders in Nakuru County.

Back then, after consultations with the community and fishermen in January, the administration concluded that the project lacked community ownership.

“The community would prefer a vegetable market at the current site, while fishermen would prefer the market located at one of the landing beaches along the lake,” Dr. Mwaura said.

He further noted that the borehole, drilled without geological experts, only produces one cubic meter of water per hour naming it a costly inefficiency and argued that had there been community involvement, Sh. 107 million would not have gone to waste.

One can only wonder what has changed over the last four months to warrant a fresh handover to the contractor for a project that was, until recently, destined for abandonment.

Efforts to get an answer to this dilemma were futile, as calls and texts to Dr. Mwaura and Trade CEC Stephen Kuria went unanswered.

For the fishermen and residents who have watched the structure weather sun and rain for years, they remain cautiously optimistic.