adminPamela Shumba Senior Reporter
SCORES of retail business operators are stranded in Bulawayo after the city council kicked them out of its rented shops and invited new tenants to occupy the buildings.Council evicted the previous occupants last week saying most of them were using the shops illegally.
Yesterday, the local authority placed a notice in the press inviting new applicants to use its buildings.
The shops are dotted around the city in Barbourfields, Luveve, Mzilikazi, Mpopoma, Pelandaba, Makokoba, Tshabalala, Njube, Iminyela and Pumula suburbs.
Council also owns kiosks in Barham Green, North End and Centenary Park, commercial and service industry bays in Luveve as well as factory shells at Kelvin North phase one and two.
When council evicted the previous occupants, it locked the shops saying some people had gone for years without paying rentals, while others were subletting.
The businesspeople were running different businesses which include grocery shops, carpentry, tailoring, and hairdressing, welding, selling new and second hand clothes as well as perishables among other products.
Speaking to Chronicle yesterday, the affected retailers said they were left with nowhere to go.
Some questioned the criteria used to select the winners of the tenders and accused council officials of seeking to use the opportunity to allocate shops to their friends.
“Life has become difficult since the city council kicked us out of its premises last week. The problem is that even if we apply for the tenders, our applications are always turned down for reasons known to them,” said David Moyo, a carpenter at Kelvin North.
Moyo said he had moved to his neighbour’s offices whose lease had not expired.
In the notice, the city council said it accepted applications from Bulawayo residents who had been resident in the city for at least 15 years.
A grocery shop operator in Barbourfields, Vincent Duce, said he was looking for premises to rent after he was evicted last week.
Bulawayo Chamber of Small and Medium Enterprises official Energy Majazi defended council saying most of the businesspeople were illegally occupying council premises.
“The city council is just trying to put order because most of these people were not paying rentals. The council has been losing revenue due to these illegal occupations,” he said.
“We want the city council to make more money so that it constructs more structures for businesspeople.”
Deputy Mayor Councillor Gift Banda last week said council would not allow businesspeople to occupy its buildings without clearance.
Online Reporter