By ANDREW MUKOMA
THE Livingstone City Council (LCC) has called on traders operating restaurants in various markets to exercise extra caution during this cold season in the manner they dispose of the fire to avoid markets being gutted.
Council Public Relations Manager, Melvin Mukela, said many times restaurant owners were at fault as they did not dispose of their fire properly, subsequently making other people lose property in infernos.
Mr Mukela said in Livingstone that the local authority had been carrying out sensitization programmes in the markets on fire safety to avoid breakouts of fire in trading places.
“We are aware that during this period, it is cold and people would want to keep themselves warm. Therefore, they are using many sources of energy to keep themselves warm. Critical areas are places are markets where we have people that trade in restaurants and there is tendency at times where when they have knocked off they would dispose of the fire on the brazier on to the waste or into the skip bin.
“So at night when there is some wind, that fire left there may be ignited and fire can break out because of the wind, we can actually have a terrible accident in markets,” he said.
Mr Mukela said that there was need to exercise extra cautious this time around as residents and traders try to warm ourselves.
“What we have been doing as local authority is that we have been going round sensitizing the members of the public on the need to be cautious on how they dispose of the fire and how they need to ensure there is no outbreak of fires in houses due to short circuit.
Mr Mukela said that instead of depending of braziers and heaters, people should purchase warm clothes to avoid fire outbreaks.
