BUJUMBURA January 22nd (ABP) – The Mayor of the city of Bujumbura Jimmy Hatungimana made a field visit on Thursday January 18, 2024 to the markets of Ruziba, Ruvumera, COTEBU, to see how the identification campaign for traders who have files established by the Town Hall and inquire about certain challenges that can be found in the markets.
After the visit, the mayor of the city of Bujumbura recalled that a meeting with three ministers, namely the minister in charge of the interior, finance and the environment, with representatives of traders from the 10 public markets of the economic capital, was held on January 15, 2024.
Among the recommendations resulting from that meeting are that of suspending the identification which was carried out by the OBR in the markets, explaining that the latter presents many irregularities, he added. We recommended that the Bujumbura Town Hall carry out the identification by considering only the traders who have files established by it.
Mr. Hatungimana also indicated that the three ministers also asked the City Hall to constitute a commission to study the issues that are in the 10 state markets located in that constituency. He noted that the campaign to identify traders who have files established by the city is going well.
He expressed his satisfaction with the traders explaining that they responded to the call launched by the city to present themselves in front of their stands with the required documents including the tax identification number, the trade register and the national card.
After that merchant identification campaign, he indicated that the results will be transmitted to the OBR which will work on the basis of that data and sign contracts with the said merchants. And to specify that the town city be responsible for administering the markets.
He did not forget to point out that in the file, there is the “amount” section, specifying the sum of money that the merchant regularly paid to Bujumbura Town Hall each end of the month. For the new contract with the OBR, that amount will be applied by the OBR times two. He explained that a stand which paid for example 10 thousand Fbu, will pay 20 thousand Fbu with the OBR. He took that opportunity to invite traders to pay on time to avoid the closure of irregular stands as was done in the past when it was the city which collected those funds.
The mayor of the city of Bujumbura also deplores the fact that there are unoccupied places in certain markets, even though they have been allocated to people. He asked traders who want places in the public markets of that locality to register with the market commissioners to request those places. They must specify the items they want to sell so that the Town Hall knows which market they will be assigned to. He also noted that construction challenges occurring in certain markets will soon be corrected.