…moves vendors from CBD to designated places
By Cephas Shava
Mwenezi Rural District Council (RDC) has brought sanity to the district’s populous Rutenga growth point by designating workplaces for various informal traders who had haphazardly sprouted in every open space.
Substandard structures, which had become eyesores at every corner of the growth point, were razed, and council-approved structures are being erected at the local authority’s designated places, which are in high demand.
In an interview with TellZim News, Mwenezi RDC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Albert Chivanga said the local authority had enough space to accommodate those seeking working space, emphasizing that the exercise aims to create proper working places for everyone operating in undesignated areas.
“The exercise is a council program in which we ensure that those who had been operating in undesignated places get council-approved working places. We have enough space to accommodate many,” said Chivanga.
However, the program has come as a double-edged sword for some vendors as well as some serviced stand owners who, since the advent of Covid-19, had turned their respective places into lucrative rental areas accommodating several flea market vendors.
A concerned vendor who felt hard hit by the exercise, Melody Moyo, bemoaned the exercise, saying it was driving them far away from their clients.
“Though the exercise seems good from the authorities’ perspective, for us as vendors, there is nothing to cheer about. We had already established vibrant customer bases, but now we are being driven to the so-called designated places where nothing is being bought. The few days that we have been here prove that the place is not conducive for business.
“We could have been allowed to contribute to the local authority’s coffers right from where we had been operating, where we were at least conducting considerable brisk business,” said Moyo.
The designation of working places for informal traders is likely to boost the local authorities’ revenue base, as MRDC has long recorded revenue leakages due to several unaccounted vendors who constantly evade taxes by operating in undesignated places.
