Hwange flea-market set to be finished end of June

Judith Phiri , Business Reporter

HWANGE Local Board (HLB) has said the construction of Empumalanga Flea Market in Hwange, is set to be finished end of June.

The flea market, constructed at an estimated cost of $60 million, was initially set to be finished end of this month but was stalled due to challenges in procuring some of the material needed for construction.

Responding to questions from Sunday News Business, HLB Town Secretary, Mr Ndumiso Mdlalose said construction was progressing well.

“Construction of Empumalanga Flea Market is progressing very well and its 43 percent complete.

However, we are not going to beat our deadline for the completion of the project, which we had slated for the end of this month, due to challenges in procuring some of the material needed for construction.

We have now given ourselves up until the end of June to complete this project. Also, note that the timeframe we would have taken has to do with the type of infrastructure we are setting-up.”

He said the flea market they were constructing was not the ordinary type of facility, but would be unique, a state-of-the-art flea market.

Mr Mdlalose said as council they were on a drive to promote the growth of the Small to Medium Enterprise (SME) sector in their area of jurisdiction, as they believe the sector plays an integral role in enhancing the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Due to the overwhelming need for flea market space we have already identified a site for the construction of another one and our hope is to embark on the project before the end of the year.

As you are aware the Government has long pointed out that local government has an important role in enabling the informal economy.

Thus, it expects each local authority to provide a conducive environment for the informal economy, through the way in which it governs, plans, regulates, invests in infrastructure and urban space, supports SMEs and furthers social inclusion.”

He said they have land which has been set aside for light industry and if people come with their projects, they will facilitate them to set-up.

“Apart from the construction of the flea-market, we will soon start reconstruction of vegetable market stalls, a project that was undertaken by the then Ministry of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing in 2008 following an Operation code-named Restore Order/Murambatsvina.

However, the operation winded up before the completion of the structures due to lack of funding. Council took over the project but inadequate resources for the project stalled progress,” added Mr Mdlalose.

He said Council has also identified a site for the setting-up of a factory shell for the housing of the leather cluster machines and equipment, which was donated to Hwange District by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce a few years ago, in support of the Beef and Leather Value Chain Technical Assistance Project.

While, the equipment will be utilised by all those that are involved in leather production.

“We are also looking for a partner to assist us in setting-up an SMEs incubation centre.

Initially we had approached Urban Development Corporation (Udcorp) to assist us in coming up with one but it has not come through to date.”

Mr Mdlalose said the idea of coming up with an incubation centre was aimed at ensuring that the SMEs improve the quality of their products. He said all these efforts show that as HLB they were committed to accelerate development of start-up and fledging entrepreneurs to effectively impact on growth of the economy.