Street vendors pressure LCC to relocate them

Tue, 30 May 2017 10:49:50 +0000

By KALOBWE BWALYA

THE delay in the preparation of new trading spaces where to move street vendors in the Lusaka Central Business District (CBD) by Lusaka City Council has raised concern among street vendors who have called on the local authority to speed up the works.

Works were supposed to commence early this month on the expansion of alleys in the CBD where to relocate the hundreds of street vendors who have been trading from corridors and along the roads in the city.

Mr Adrian Kangwa, a vendor from town centre, appealed to the council to quickly start the works so that traders could be relocated before the onset of the rains.

Mr Kangwa said trading along the streets was not easy because lives were at risk and merchandises were easily stolen due to lack of proper security.

Another vendor Charles Banda said the vendors were eager to move out from the streets but questioned if the plans by LCC to expand the alleys will succeed because the council ‘‘kept changing goal posts’’.

He said the council had been assuring them that works would start soon, but surprisingly nothing was happening on the ground, despite the Road Development Agency coming on board and saying they were ready to carry out the work.

Another vendor Temwani Zimba regretted that the city has lost its beauty due uncollected garbage as well as blocked drainage system due to the increase in infrastructure development and indiscriminate disposal of waste.

“We have begun to doubt if the expansion of the alleys to move us from the streets will work because the council has continued making changes, despite the money being available and RDA are ready to carry out the works,” he said.

And Lusaka mayor Wilson Kalumba said the identification of service lines by the utility companies has been concluded and engineers from the council and utility companies were figuring out what to do with the face of the service lines that were there.

Mr Kalumba said the underground works were going on well and last month works were expected to commence, but maintained that the project time line for May was still attaining.

The mayor said once the works were completed and vendors relocated, sanity will be restored in the CBD because the local authority will not allow any vendor to trade on the streets.

He said at the moment the alleys did not serve their purposes as they were being abused and used as garages and toilets, among other things.

Mr Kalumba said once the vendors were relocated, the authority will embark on the implementation of the Keep Zambia Clean as shop owners will be compelled  to paint their shops and no display of merchandise will be allowed in corridors.