The minister for Trade and Industry Hon. Amelia Kyambadde has justified the move by President Yoweri Museveni to allow malls open for business starting tomorrow Thursday 4th June 2020 as he moves to lift the COVID19 lock down.
Malls can open for business starting tomorrow as long as they observe the SOPs, however, arcades will remain closed until further notice. According to Kyambadde, the decision to open malls followed serious research.
She says malls have ample and convenient parking space while arcades are congested and lack convenient parking space, Malls have two major entrances and one emergency exit, while arcades have multiple entrances.
Hon. Kyambadde says malls can easily control human traffic, which is different with arcades. Malls have better fire control measure, which is not the same with arcades. Also, malls house businesses like Banks, Pharmacies, electronics, and supermarkets specialized merchandize shops as well as offices while arcades have only general merchandize shops.
She gave examples of malls as Acacia mall, Village mall, Imperial mall, Metroplex mall, Oasis mall, Garden city mall, kingdom Kampala mall, Shoprite Lugogo mall, Victori mall and Marigold Ntinda.
While arcades, the minister mentioned Mutaasa Kafeero, Galiraaya, Energy centre, Kizito arcade, Arua park arcade, Nalubwama arcade, Nabukeera arcade and Qualicell.
She explained that all general merchandize shops outside arcades remain open. Also, standalone merchandize shops should open for business tomorrow. They include those located on Nasser and Nkrumah roads.
