5th Avenue rehab excites Bulawayo vendors

INFORMAL traders operating along the 5th Avenue “Market Place” in Bulawayo are excited by the rehabilitation of the street and anxiously look forward to its reopening for orderly business.

The rehabilitation of the lane is part of the measures by the Bulawayo City Council, working closely with the Government, to restore order and sanity in the city centre.

Council has said it expects to reopen the lane at the end of this month after it displaced vendors more than a month ago following a resolution to officially convert the road into a formal marketplace paving the way for its rehabilitation.

“I didn’t think that this lane would be officially designated as a marketplace. The work that is being done here is just awe-inspiring. It is incredible, thumbs up to BCC,” said Mrs Ruth Dube.

“What we hope for is that they try to develop the place further into a state-of-the-art trading place that has shades and ablution facilities.”

Another merchant expressed delight about the rehabilitation works, saying the environment was now clean and will increase sales.

“This place was filthy. We tried to keep it clean but because the lane was dilapidated all our efforts were in vain. Now the road is tarred and gravelled and we will ensure that we maintain what BCC has done for us,” said Ms Tabeth Nyoni.

Mr Thembelani Ncube, who said he has been trading along the lane for the greater part of his life said the countdown is electrifying although they had incurred losses.

“We have been deprived of our source of living and in all honesty, we do not understand what is taking the council so long to conduct work on a single lane. This is a do-or-die situation,” he said.

**Rehabilitation works at the 5th Avenue market**

A Chronicle crew witnessed municipality staff composed of engineers and maintenance teams working on the roads, which are swanky compared to other road lanes. Some parts of the lane have completely been re-tarred.

Vendors4ED patron, Mr Tendai Charuka said he was delighted with the calmness and order vendors exhibited.

“Vendors have been left weary by the delay in the rehabilitation process but have been patient. They are appreciative of what is on the ground and really cannot wait to operate,” he said.

“Initially council had set a date for the beginning of March and later changed to mid-month but they have assured us that by the end of the month vendors will return to their trading place, which has been legalised.”

He also urged the council to construct structures such as shades to promote a good working environment under all weather conditions.

BCC corporate communications manager Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said the improvement stretches from Lobengula Street to Samuel Parirenyatwa Street.

“It should be further noted that the council could not easily access the area as per the planned programme as vacating of the site by the informal traders took longer than expected,” she said.

“The scoping of proposed improvement works was done when the informal traders were occupying the road and this made it impossible to quantify the extent of potholes and the required repair works.

“We were able to accurately scope the works after the removal of the informal traders. The initial scope was to patch potholes and then reseal but now the scope has changed to include localised pavement reconstruction, and localised asphalt concrete overlays,” said Mrs Mpofu.

She said the rehabilitation process was part of BCC’s effort to beautify and clean the city.

“Sanity and order will prevail enabling free flow of vehicular and pedestrian traffic. A proper site committee will be established, which will attend to smooth operations of the area and ensure cleanliness of the Informal Trading site among other aspects,” said Mrs Mpofu.

“The construction of vending stalls is also expected to provide safe working spaces. They will have safe working spaces and form block management committees so as to police themselves.”