By Onny Gangata
FINANCIALLY crippled Gweru City Council (GCC) has openly admitted that it has no control over the Mtapa Informal traders market, pleading with residents to intervene and bring council and ‘the forces’ that control the market to a round table in order to bring sanity.
This comes at a time when informal traders are putting the local authority to task about the absence of proper sanitary facilities such as running water and ablution facilities at the market in the wake of a Cholera outbreak in the country.
But, the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) led council said it was losing thousands of US dollars in revenue everyday at the market to untouchable cartels aligned to the ruling ZANU PF, who also control the vending stalls.
Speaking during a Gweru united progressive residents and rate payers development association (GURPRADA) meeting on Wednesday, ward 18 councillor, William Mazango said the local authority had its hands tied and could not make any developments at the market.
“As it stands, we cannot do anything about that market, there are people who control the market and get the daily fees and not council,” Mazango decried.
“Even our security officers they cannot do anything about that because there are powerful forces that control happenings at these markets. As a council we are getting a pittance on a daily basis as revenue, which makes it difficult for us to improve the infrastructure because someone else is getting a large chunk of the revenue.”
Although there have been no officially recorded cholera cases in the Midlands capital, there are fears that the Mtapa market could be a breeding ground for diseases, due to the hive of activity at the centre.
It is a business hub where farmers and local informal traders interact in high volumes, some coming from different parts of the country thereby making the market a ticking health time bomb.
There are no functional toilets and ablution facilities at the market with most of the traders resorting to the bush system.
Zimbabwe chamber of informal associations(ZCIEA) midlands chairperson, Shepherd Museve stressed the need for GCC to take charge and restore order at Gweru’s largest trade centre for informal traders.
“There are several avenues the council can explore to address this issue, we have a minister of state in the province, the local authority must have a interface with him regarding this matter,” he said.
“It is not fair for all the informal traders to be operating at a place like that where there are no toilets and other necessary sanitary provisions. It puts the whole city at risk of spreading diseases.”
Another informal trader, Linda Choga echoed Museve’s sentiments saying the need for proper sanitary facilities at market spaces cannot be overemphasized.
“We are very amenable to paying something to the council on a daily basis provided they can take responsibility for our welfare at our workspaces,” Choga said.
“Noone wants to die of Cholera or any disease that is caused by unhygienic conditions, but the situation forces us to resort to unsafe practices due to the unavailability of water and toilets where we operate from.”
Mazango however, admits that, at the moment, the local authority is incapacitated to make the necessary developments.
Instead he called on residents to intervene and bring GCC and those that are in charge of the Mtapa market to a round table to map the way forward.
“It is my plea to you as residents and the civic society to intervene, approach those controlling the market to a round table. They are the ones who are collecting more than the council,” he pleaded.
“It is to our benefit as a city if we could all be united that is why we are asking you to approach them on our behalf because it is impossible for us to do so due to political grounds.”
