Suburban
Suburban Reporter
MT Pleasant residents have commended the City of Harare for removing vendors who were selling their wares on St Kilda and along Mt Pleasant Drive.
The vendors had set their base on these two roads to target University of Zimbabwe students. The vendors were selling cooked food, drinks, airtime and fruits among other wares. Pirate taxi operators had also moved in on the two roads to offer transport to and from campus to UZ students. The resultant chaos from the congestion on the two roads was worrying Mt Pleasant residents who also had to endure wanton littering and noise pollution from the vendors’ and pirate taxis activities.
But last weekend, Mt Pleasant residents said the authorities had moved in to eject the vendors from the roadsides.
The residents said it seemed the UZ authorities had opened a food outlet within the recently opened bus rank in the campus.
Residents commended council officials, the municipal police and the Zimbabwe Republic Police for a job well done and expressed the hope that the vendors will not be allowed to reinvade the roadsides in future.
They also urged council authorities to accommodate vendors in other parts of the suburb at designated sites to ensure order and cleanliness in the neighbourhood.
Last week, residents were dreading having to suffer the inconvenience of congestion, littering and noise pollution on St Kilda and Mt Pleasant Drive as students trooped back to the University of Zimbabwe ahead of the start of the new semester.
For the past two years, the vending at the corner of St Kilda and Mt Pleasant Drive near the UZ had been a thorn for residents who were being inconvenienced by the congestion caused by the informal traders and pirate taxis ranking at the place.
Residents had been calling for action from the City of Harare against the vending which had been going on unchecked since 2021.
In addition to the congestion and littering, the vendors were also being accused of selling alcohol and dangerous drugs to UZ students.
The municipality had in the past tried to take action against the vending menace but they kept returning to the spot because they enjoyed good business from the UZ student community.
Last year residents told Suburban they feared the vendors were invading every intersection and all roadside verges in the area.
They appealed to the local authority to take urgent action and find somewhere suitable to deploy the vendors saying they acknowledge that they are also trying to earn a living.
