Chronicle Editor
Ashley Phiri and Peter Matika, Chronicle Writers
THE Bulawayo City Council yesterday drove out informal traders operating along Fifth Avenue in the city centre to pave the way for the rehabilitation works and designation of formal vending bays.
As early as 7am, municipal police and staff were on the ground enforcing the directive, which saw the Fifth Avenue stretch between Robert Mugabe Street and Jason Moyo Streets being cordoned off.
The council exercise included removing rubble and vegetable waste from alleyways, which have been accumulating over the months posing a health hazard to communities.
In separate interviews vendors said they were excited about the renovations and hoped this will enhance sanity and promote orderly business.
“As you can see the council is doing renovations. We are being set back but some of us think it’s for a noble cause. This place was a possible breeding ground for diseases such as cholera,” said Mr Ishamel Simango.
Others said the council had greatly inconvenienced their operations as it had not provided a temporary place of operation.
“’We are greatly inconvenienced by all this and right now we don’t know how we are going to survive during the time that we are not working,” said one of the vendors.
“In our line of business every day counts and as it is, the month is ending soon and rentals will be due. We can only hope that they work efficiently and time consciously so that we can get back to business.”
Another vendor Mrs Nokuthula Dube said she was hopeful that the new arrangement would impact positively on the business.
“It’s my prayer that whatever the council is doing is for our own good and we hope from now on we will get better working conditions and the bullying by space barons will be a thing of the past,” she said.
“I just want to request the council to work faster so we can get back to business.”
Bulawayo Mayor Mr David Coltart said the local authority is trying to restore order and sanity in the city. “The events of the day included removing rubbish, sanitizing and renovating the area. The target is licensing 500 vendors, who will operate under marked bays,” he said.
“This is a temporary measure according to the ultimate plan. We consider the health of residents. We hope to see that these measures promote a healthy environment for people to operate.
“There are places that we have opened up for vendors and we hope to see them acting responsibly as citizens of the city.”
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