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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
SCORES of small-scale business entrepreneurs in Mutare were left stranded this morning after Mutare City Council closed their shops over unpaid trading licences.
At the upmarket Mutare Trade Centre Complex, more than 80 stall holders were locked outside the premises, while a good number of shops also had their doors locked by the local authority’s security personnel.
City of Mutare spokesperson, Mr Spren Mutiwi said: “A shop licence is a statutory obligation which every player should renew annually. The Statutory Instrument gives a one-month grace period for players to renew their licences and we are simply targeting those who have gone beyond the one-month grace period.
“We are a listening local authority and some entrepreneurs simply disregard the bylaws with a view to operate for free, an error which is no longer in existence. We are carrying out a citywide blitz to ensure compliance and regularisation of traders’ licences.
“What we want is business to operate within the regulated environment and we are out to eliminate those who want to operate for free without paying anything to council.”
However, traders interviewed by The Manica Post bitterly complained about the amounts involved, saying they are too exorbitant while business is low.
Mr Jonathan Tasweranadzo, who operates at Mutare Trade Centre, said: “It is sad that the local authority has just decided to close our work area after we have made a commitment to settle the licence fees through part payments.
“They have arbitrarily closed our shops without any notice and we feel it is very unfair. Right now we are losing out on revenue that we could have amassed and used to pay the local authority.”
Ms Memory Mutiwekuziwa, said: “It is sad that we know some runners who we are smuggling different items into the country and selling them at way cheaper prices. These runners hardly pay anything to council and to the State, but we bear the burden only to be subjected to this ill-treatment.”
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