adminLeonard Ncube Victoria Falls Reporter
THE Victoria Falls Municipality will soon embark on an exercise to remove beggars from the streets.
Town Clerk, Christopher Dube, yesterday said while the government had directed that illegal vendors must be evicted from undesignated areas, street beggars were causing concern as they were becoming a menace in the international tourism destination.
He said if not removed from the streets, the beggars were likely to send a wrong impression about the country and Victoria Falls to visitors.
“Just like other local authorities we have some challenges with vendors but ours is not as complex as other towns probably for two reasons. We’re a small local authority and we’re also very strict on our by-laws because we’re an international destination,” said Dube.
“Lately, we’ve noticed that there has been a proliferation of beggars on the streets and we’re looking at ways of evicting them soon. There are street beggars almost everywhere and we need to find ways of dealing with them.”
Dube could not be drawn into giving the exact time when the street beggars would be taken off from the streets.
Some beggars in the resort town harass tourists and sometimes attempt to get into their buses to beg.
On the issue of vendors, Dube said the municipality had strict by-laws pertaining to vending and their only challenge were traders from Zambia.
He said they had set designated sites for vending and they would “deal” with Zambian traders who sometimes break the law.
Online Reporter