Suburban
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
WARD 18 residents have called on council authorities to remove illegal vendors who have mushroomed across Borrowdale, saying they are degrading and devaluing their neighbourhood.
The residents said the City of Harare should do its work and ensure by-laws are enforced
According to the residents, every corner in Borrowdale now has vendors selling all kinds of wares and the responsible authorities should take action against the illegal vending.
“I wonder what does the City of Harare by-laws say with regards to food vendors who are now mushrooming on every corner of our streets in Borrowdale selling tomatoes, green mealies and so on. I worry about the mealies which are cooked on the side of the road with no water or toilet facilities. They are just an eyesore and they are degrading our area,” said a resident.
Another resident said the illegal vendors were not only selling food but just about everything ranging from building materials, bricks, tombstones and gumtree poles at all the corners in Borrowdale devaluing the area.
“Not only food vendors what about bricks, tombstones, gumtree poles, manure pit sand river sand all being washed away causing siltation to our water bodies etc. All this happening in the capital city of the country. Harare is now a rural area. All this happening under the eyes of the council. Maybe they are blind. If I was in charge of council such things would not be allowed to happen,” said the resident.
Residents also suggested that some of the illegal vendors are actually City of Harare workers hence the municipality’s lack of action against illegal activities.
Concerns were expressed that some of the vending stalls were criminal hubs where illicit drugs were sold.
“How about we actively do something about this. We could start by a petition and follow it through and put as much pressure on council as we can including a media onslaught. Let’s keep our suburbs clean and with sanity,” argued another resident.
The Borrowdale Ratepayers and Residents Association recently indicated that there were plans to establish a vendors’ market at Helensvale shopping centre to provide legal work spaces for informal traders. A site for the marker has since been identified.
