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This article participates on the following special index pages:
Operation Murambatsvina - Countrywide evictions of urban poor - Index of articles
Harare
council demolishes new vending stalls
Tererai
Karimakwenda, SW Radio Africa
May 11,
2006
http://www.swradioafrica.com/news110506/hararevendors110506.htm
In a move that further
shows the lack of vision and planning by the illegal Commission
running Harare, the new vending stalls built to accommodate vendors
and bring order to the informal sector were demolished last week.
Our correspondent Simon Muchemwa reports that the council had built
50-100 vending stalls at several locations around the capital some
months before Operation
Murambatsvina.
They were meant to
be rented to vendors after the demolitions last year that left hundreds
of thousands of flea market traders without a place to do business. Muchemwa
says the stalls were never used and the Commission running Harare has
lost millions of dollars in rental fees.
Muchemwa said some
of the markets destroyed were located at 4th Street and at Market Square.
He said each market had about 50 to 100 stalls. Each stall had a concrete
or brick table for selling wares, and storage space for locking up products
at night. Muchemwa said no vetting of vendors was ever done and no reason
has been given for the demolitions. Many informal traders are now working
from their places of residence if there is space. And those selling tomatoes
and vegetables are playing cat and mouse games with the police. Muchemwa
reports that some clothes manufacturers have cleverly formed cooperatives
and are renovating empty buildings. He said there is not enough space
to accommodate all the vendors who were once a part of Harare’s long-established
flea markets.
Meanwhile civic organizations
in the country are organizing events to commemorate the 2005 demolitions
that have been condemned by The United Nations, The African Commission
and many other human rights groups around the world. The National
Association of Non-Governmental Organisations (NANGO)said civic society
activists and journalists will tour city suburbs to assess the plight
of displaced people a year after the so-called cleanup exercise Murambatsvina.
Residents say the
lack of planning and vision have characterised the illegal administration
of Sekesai Makwavarara ever since she was appointed by local government
minister Ignatius Chombo. Service delivery has been at its worst under
the Commission.
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