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Ivan Zhakata Herald Correspondent
SAND poachers and illegal brick moulders in Chitungwiza were reportedly each paying US$1 daily to Chitungwiza municipal officials to operate along the Seke Road servitude in Unit O to the detriment of the environment.
Chitungwiza Municipalty said the payments were fines, not bribes, although if fines they were paltry and continuous.
One of the victims whose bricks were destroyed during a joint operation launched by the Harare Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution’s office, Vehicle Inspection Department, Environmental Management Agency and the police complained about the ending of the trade although he paid his US$1 a day religiously.
The operation, meant to enforce zero tolerance to environmental crimes in Harare Metropolitan, was launched on November 6 as environmental crime continued to increase with little action from local government.
The blitz is covering waste management, wetlands invasions, air pollution, environmental compliance by public transport operators, and illegal sand poaching, including those selling sand and bricks without permits.
A crackdown was recently held opposite Velvet Service Station in Unit O, Chitungwiza, where bricks, concrete pillars and piles of sand were destroyed or dispersed.
The vendors expressed shock, saying they were paying daily fees to Chitungwiza municipal officials to be allowed to sell their products along the road servitude.
One of the affected people who requested anonymity said she was shocked when she saw a bulldozer coming to destroy their bricks while sand was being loaded into a council truck.
She said they have been paying US$1 a day, and they presumed this went to the municipality, to be allowed to sell their bricks, concrete pillars and sand.
“The people from EMA, police and others who we do not know came with a bulldozer and started destroying our bricks while loading the sand in a truck which they had,” she said. “We were told that we were operating illegally and we have no permits to conduct such businesses.
“What shocked us is that we have been paying US$1 every day to council along with the vendors on the other side of the road to be allowed to conduct our business in this area. We now do not know what to do, either to continue or to move away, and we are waiting for council to tell us the way forward.”
Another affected person, Mr Gibson Zvenyika, said he was shocked that some people who operated at the same site did not have their bricks and pillars destroyed and sand taken away.
“This is confusing and I do not know what is really taking place because if you look at this place, some people were left out and they were conducting their business as usual,” he said. “What is so special about them and why were they left out? We would be happy if that can be explained to us so that we know what to do going forward.”
Chitungwiza Municipal spokesperson Mr Lovemore Meya said the money paid by the operators was not a bribe, but a fine for operating illegally.
“These were penalties since no one is allowed to operate along servitudes. If they do not have licences, their operations are illegal,” he said.
A total of 430 people have been arrested for committing environmental crimes across the Harare Metropolitan Province as the blitz on environmental crimes intensified.
Speaking on the update of the blitz, police spokesperson for Harare Metropolitan Inspector Luckmore Chakanza said police had been part of the operation since its inception.
“So far we have made several arrests and we have arrested 430 people and the offences include failure to have bins in shops and buses, littering, sand transport, sand poaching and illegal dumping,” he said. “We have arrested 271 for littering only and we are encouraging members of the public not to throw litter at undesignated places.”
VID training manager Mrs Caroline Tshuma said: “As VID we have been after unroadworthy vehicles. We have inspected a total of 505 vehicles and we have prohibited 136 vehicles from the road with 16 vehicles being impounded and owners of 244 vehicles warned while 109 vehicles were found compliant.”
Secretary for Provincial Affairs and Devolution in the Harare Metropolitan Province Mr Tafadzwa Muguti said the operation included all four local authorities in the province: Harare, Chitungwiza, Epworth and Ruwa.
Online Reporter