adminhas been closing down shops since Monday when the blitz began. It is targeting mostly those shops who have not paid licence fees since the beginning of the year.
Shop-owners pay an annual fee of US$288 but most of them had not paid anything halfway through the year prompting council to embark on a revenue collection drive.
The most affected shops were boutiques and barbershops which now make up the majority of shops in the town.
Municipal workers were seen going from shop to shop with locksets to close every shop where proof of payment was not produced.
In an interview yesterday, one shop attendant said the fees were long overdue and council had exercised patience but people were reluctant to pay despite council allowing them to pay in instalments.
“We just saw municipality workers coming to ask for receipts which show that we have paid our annual fees but unfortunately our shop has not paid and they have locked it up,” said an attendant who preferred anonymity for fear of victimisation.
Online Reporter