Chronicle EditorRutendo Nyeve, Business Reporter
THE construction of a fruit and vegetable wholesale market at the teeming Nkulumane’s Sekusile Shopping Centre in Bulawayo, which is aimed at upgrading the trade and establishing a smart operating space for vendors, is taking shape with civil works already underway.
The construction of the wholesale market is being undertaken under the Urban Safe Markets Project in partnership with the Bulawayo City Council (BCC), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Dan Church Aid (DCA), and Bulawayo Vendors and Traders Association (BVTA)
It is being implemented in line with the Government’s deliberate thrust and efforts to formalise the Micro, Small to Medium Enterprises entailed by the national vision of an upper middle-income economy by 2030 under the National Development Strategy 1 (NDS1).
The construction of the fruit and vegetable market comes after an extensive assessment and realisation of the need to support decentralisation of safe markets. The wholesale market will ensure that producers are selling from well-established infrastructure.
While the BVTA director Mr Micheal Ndiweni preferred commenting on the project when it reaches a more advanced stage, Sunday News visited the site last week and observed construction workers erecting steel beam trusses which is part of the civil works of the ongoing construction.
Third Heaven Construction was contracted to carry out the excavation works while Pump and Steel puts the roof. According to a BCC report, the construction of the market was initially meant to be completed by the end of this month.
“It will be recalled that a council meeting of 2 March 2022 approved the construction of a wholesale market in partnership with UNDP, DCA, and BVTA. The project had managed to drill the borehole on site, which had also been solarised. Foundation trenches have also been done in preparation for the laying of the foundation.
“Partners had also procured and delivered building materials on site, with other civil works expected to begin soon. Thereafter, it was expected that structural contractors will erect the superstructure and wind up the project. The project is expected to be completed in the month of August 2022 if there are no delays to the activities,” reads the report.
The Nkulumane Urban Resilience project is the second to be rolled out in the region after one was opened in Gwanda this January. SMEs have become dominant economic players in Zimbabwe but a majority of them still operate informally.
It is for this reason that the Government has sought to prioritise the development of SMEs and facilitating their formalisation.
This would be achieved through provision of decent workplaces, facilitating access to finance, skills training and information sharing, among others. – @nyeve14
Online Reporter