60-Stall Market Plan for Isa Town
A 60-stall central market for local food traders is being proposed at Isa Town’s long-shut Lebanon Trade Centre as investors show interest in the site.
Southern Municipal Council member Mubarak Faraj said a memorandum was being drawn up to turn the former supermarket into a market for fish, fruit, vegetables, meat and poultry.
The building already has electricity and other services, which he said would save the cost of building a new market from scratch.
‘The idea is to make this a proper central market for local traders,’ he told The Daily Tribune. ‘The buildings are already there and they have electricity and the basic services, so we can make use of what exists instead of spending money on new buildings.’
Around 20 stalls would go to fish sellers and another 20 to fruit and vegetable traders, with separate sections for meat and poultry.
Mr Faraj said the market would be mainly for smaller local sellers who cannot afford high shop rents.
‘We want local traders to have somewhere they can work and sell their goods at rents they can afford,’ he said. ‘They should have a place where they are not pushed out by bigger businesses.’
He wants part of the site kept for small local traders as the municipality weighs bids for the property.
The Lebanon Trade Centre, once a large supermarket serving Isa Town, has been closed since November 2022.
It was emptied under a court eviction order in June 2024 after the company running it failed to meet payments to the Southern Municipality.
Home Electronics was also caught up in the dispute.
Mr Faraj said the existing flea market, known as Maqasees, was not a proper central market and suggested turning the former supermarket into a food market for Isa Town.
Part of the former electronics area is now used for sports and martial arts.
The Southern Municipal Council held the first meeting of its fifth and final session yesterday.
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