Esther Passaris pleads with government over Toi market fire victims
Nairobi Woman Representative Esther Passaris on June 12, 2023, visited Toi Market in Kibra Constituency to assess the situation.
The market was on June 10, 2023, razed down by a fire, leaving several traders stranded and counting their losses.
The cause of the fire is yet to be established.
In his address to the traders, the lawmaker asked the government to come to the aid of the victims who lost goods worth millions of shillings.
“Some of them have lost stock worth up Sh400, 000 to Sh800, 000 and they have no way of making money. Once we get the exact figure, I really believe that it is not a lot to ask the government to pay each and every one of these traders Sh20, 000,” she explained.
The MP said the government should come up with a mechanism to get the victims out of such disasters as most of them had taken loans to boost their businesses.
Passaris has also called on Governor Johnson Sakaja’s county government to consider installing fire hydrants in the markets, which she said would have reduced the losses caused by the late arrival of the county fire service.
“We need to find a way of connecting hydrants in the market at different points that already have water so that you don’t have to wait for the fire brigade to come and a lot of them are so disappointed that the fire brigade came without water and they also came very late.”
She has also assured the victims that allegations of grabbing the land on which the market sits will be investigated, and has asked anyone with information about the source of the fire to contact the police.
“For the one who claims to own the land, I will follow up because I’m a member of the Lands Committee.”
The MP was accompanied by a number of MCAs from the Nairobi Assembly, who also assured the victims that their grievances would be addressed.
On Sunday evening, Governor Sakaja visited the area and promised to rebuild the market in his personal capacity.
Governor Sakaja assured the traders of Toi Market that he would also donate food and other household items to the 2,000 traders affected by the unforeseen fire tragedy.
Both Toi and Gikomba markets have been affected by recent fires as the county government continues to look for long-term solutions.
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