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ILLEGAL settlers along Avondale Creek are setting up blockades on roads in an attempt to waylay motorists and burgle nearby homes.
The settlers also burn toxic plastic materials, lowering the living standards for local residents.
The group has been operating for four years and local residents have petitioned the City of Harare to have them removed, but no solutions have been put forward.
On Monday, the squatters blocked Kenny Road in Kensington, with bricks, in the hope of ambushing passing cars.
Many locals are now living in fear and have appealed to the Council to help remove the squatters.
“The intention was to obviously waylay motorists who would have stopped their vehicles to remove the bricks.
“I was coming from the shops when I saw this in time and removed the bricks before anyone encountered any trouble.
“We also observed that some of the bricks had actually been stolen from Kenny Road,” said one resident Thomas McCarthy.
McCathy said at around 4am on Tuesday his gardener was awoken by shouts of people moving behind his precast wall along the Creek.
“It turns out the squatters had stolen some tobacco bales from a moving truck.
“They got into the truck by the traffic lights at the intersection of Argyle Road and Prince Edward Street.
“Despite our pleas for the removal of the squatters, nothing or no solution seems to be found to this menace.
“We are still appealing to the Council to please help us get rid of the squatter.”
Mathew Masinge
Online Reporter