Online Reporter
Remember Deketeke
Municipal Correspondent
HARARE City Council is moving to standardise all home industries and introduce fire-prevention mechanisms following a spate of fires that have destroyed property and disrupted informal businesses.
This comes after a Magaba home industry was engulfed by a fire on Tuesday afternoon.
Harare City Council’s Acting Town Clerk Advocate Warren Chiwawa said the local authority had started with Mbare Musika and was now working on the Chemanza home industry.
He said the programme would see all council-run home industries being developed to uniform standards, with facilities designed to minimise fire risks.
“We are going to standardise all our home industries and put fire prevention mechanisms to avoid the recurrent fires, and we are going to make sure Magaba is next after Chemanza,” he said.
Adv Chiwawa said the developments would be accompanied by appropriate facilities, including measures to improve fire safety.
“So all our home industries will be standardised. It will come with fireproof facilities,” he said.
This comes amid growing concern over fires at informal trading and industrial sites in the capital, where overcrowding and inadequate infrastructure have raised safety concerns.
The council’s approach is expected to focus on improving the physical layout of home industries while ensuring that traders and small-scale businesses operate in safer environments.
Adv Chiwawa said the programme would be rolled out across the city once work at the identified sites was completed.
