Malls flout construction rules as they take over Kampala
Feb 08, 2008
DATING back to 1922 in the US, where the first mall was erected by J.C Nichols Company, the infection of these giant structures is spreading like an epidemic across Kampala streets.
By Titus Kakembo
DATING back to 1922 in the US, where the first mall was erected by J.C Nichols Company, the infection of these giant structures is spreading like an epidemic across Kampala streets.
“Customers feel safer shopping in malls than in single shops because of the presence of security guards,†said Sharon Birungi, a trader at Maria’s Galleria on Luwum Street.
The third floor on which she operates, like many others, is tacky with racks of lipstick, CD stores, fast food, heavy human traffic, dismal toilet facilities and calculated positioning of miniature stores. There are also upscale jewellers, emporiums and boutiques.
Another dealer Christine Nakito explains how mini- traders run businesses in such prime locations.
“To cut costs one person rents the shop and sublets some shelves to other traders at between sh200,000 and sh500,000, depending on the location of the mall.â€
As if to exhaust the names in the English language, the developers have baptised the commercial buildings plazas, towers, complexes or just malls.
A recent scan through the city clearly shows that places like Kiyembe, Kikuubo, Ben Kiwanuka and William streets and Container Village have been ‘claimed’ by malls.
Other than giving the landscape a new look, malls are transforming the shopping cultures. Families can now enjoy the comfort of buying household requirements in one place.
What used to be UTC Bus Park is a coffee-brown Mukwano Mall and Ben Kiwanuka and William streets malls are a must destination for, especially upcountry businessmen and women.
The malls are stocked with everything, ranging from stationery, fabrics, pastries, cosmetics, electronics, hardware, clothes and foot wear.
The city’s eye sore – Kiyembe – where tailors and school uniform traders used to do their work under tree shades has long changed.
An army of tailors, garment traders and self-employed commission agents, now transact business in the comfort of malls sitting astride Luwum and Burton streets.
As if vying for a beauty contest slot, Fahd Plaza is one of those malls that one would think was superimposed from the first world.
It elegantly sits astride Kampala and Wilson roads. It is bathed in gold as the sun lazily sets or rises. The shimmering Italian-white tiled structure has ample parking space.
There other malls – what you would call premature births – around Qualicel Bus Terminal and St. Balikuddembe Market.
However, the “overdose†of malls is on Luwum Street, which is graced with a forest of malls.
The posh ones have stand-by generators which serve the building with alternative power during UMEME load shedding. The poor ones get engulfed in darkness and business is brought to a halt.
With all these mushrooming buildings, Kampala needs an updated map.
The malls have taken the city by storm and they are attracting tourists and photographers.
However, Ssebanenya Kyobe, the Kampala Central division engineer, has an axe to grind with the mall constructors. He told this writer that most mall developers have flouted construction rules.
“Three-storied building constructed in the city must have a lift and a ramp for the disabled, but for most, this is not the case with the city malls,†he noted.
“The buildings do not have fire-fighting equipment and for those that have the users of the buildings do not know how to use them.â€
Kyobe says, as if the above is not bad enough, the majority of the malls do not have waste disposal facilities, toilets and parking space.
Asked how they are constructed under the nose of the authorities without all the requirements, Kyobe said: “When the plans are submitted they have all the requirements, but come night fall and the ground floor which was supposed to be a parking space is partitioned into shops.â€
DATING back to 1922 in the US, where the first mall was erected by J.C Nichols Company, the infection of these giant structures is spreading like an epidemic across Kampala streets.
“Customers feel safer shopping in malls than in single shops because of the presence of security guards,†said Sharon Birungi, a trader at Maria’s Galleria on Luwum Street.
The third floor on which she operates, like many others, is tacky with racks of lipstick, CD stores, fast food, heavy human traffic, dismal toilet facilities and calculated positioning of miniature stores. There are also upscale jewellers, emporiums and boutiques.
Another dealer Christine Nakito explains how mini- traders run businesses in such prime locations.
“To cut costs one person rents the shop and sublets some shelves to other traders at between sh200,000 and sh500,000, depending on the location of the mall.â€
As if to exhaust the names in the English language, the developers have baptised the commercial buildings plazas, towers, complexes or just malls.
A recent scan through the city clearly shows that places like Kiyembe, Kikuubo, Ben Kiwanuka and William streets and Container Village have been ‘claimed’ by malls.
Other than giving the landscape a new look, malls are transforming the shopping cultures. Families can now enjoy the comfort of buying household requirements in one place.
What used to be UTC Bus Park is a coffee-brown Mukwano Mall and Ben Kiwanuka and William streets malls are a must destination for, especially upcountry businessmen and women.
The malls are stocked with everything, ranging from stationery, fabrics, pastries, cosmetics, electronics, hardware, clothes and foot wear.
The city’s eye sore – Kiyembe – where tailors and school uniform traders used to do their work under tree shades has long changed.
An army of tailors, garment traders and self-employed commission agents, now transact business in the comfort of malls sitting astride Luwum and Burton streets.
As if vying for a beauty contest slot, Fahd Plaza is one of those malls that one would think was superimposed from the first world.
It elegantly sits astride Kampala and Wilson roads. It is bathed in gold as the sun lazily sets or rises. The shimmering Italian-white tiled structure has ample parking space.
There other malls – what you would call premature births – around Qualicel Bus Terminal and St. Balikuddembe Market.
However, the “overdose†of malls is on Luwum Street, which is graced with a forest of malls.
The posh ones have stand-by generators which serve the building with alternative power during UMEME load shedding. The poor ones get engulfed in darkness and business is brought to a halt.
With all these mushrooming buildings, Kampala needs an updated map.
The malls have taken the city by storm and they are attracting tourists and photographers.
However, Ssebanenya Kyobe, the Kampala Central division engineer, has an axe to grind with the mall constructors. He told this writer that most mall developers have flouted construction rules.
“Three-storied building constructed in the city must have a lift and a ramp for the disabled, but for most, this is not the case with the city malls,†he noted.
“The buildings do not have fire-fighting equipment and for those that have the users of the buildings do not know how to use them.â€
Kyobe says, as if the above is not bad enough, the majority of the malls do not have waste disposal facilities, toilets and parking space.
Asked how they are constructed under the nose of the authorities without all the requirements, Kyobe said: “When the plans are submitted they have all the requirements, but come night fall and the ground floor which was supposed to be a parking space is partitioned into shops.â€