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Brighton Gumbo Business Reporter
THE Bulawayo City Council is planning to establish 14,000 new vending bays as a way of decongesting informal traders from the central business district, the mayor, Councillor Martin Moyo, has said. With scores of people turning to the informal economy, vending has become commonplace in most pavements in the CBD.
Clr Moyo said the local authority was working on identifying more vending bays for registered operators to ensure order.
“The council is currently working on a project to add more vending space with plans to allocate more sites to the city’s informal traders.
“We’re going to stick to our first come first serve policy in allocating the bays,” he said.
Council sources said up to 14,000 new bays would be availed during the course of this year.
Clr Moyo urged vendors to register their names with the council to facilitate a smooth formalisation of their operations.
The government has ordered local authorities to provide proper vending sites across the country following concerns that illegal vending was causing congestion and disorder.
However, vendors complain that most of the allocated sites are on the outskirts of the city where business traffic is low.
Online Reporter
Bongani Ndlovu