LCC Vows To Fight Street Vending

TIME and again Government through the Ministry of Local Government and the Lusaka City Council (LCC) has tried to remove venders from the streets of Lusaka but all to no avail.
Vendors keep coming back.
This time the local authority has vowed to fight street vending and permanently keep them away.
LCC public relations manager, Mulunda Habeenzu says the local authority will not allow lawlessness to prevail.
“We are doing this exercise together with Cabinet, Ministry of Local Government and other stakeholders. We are targeting Cairo Road and Lumumba Road and the vendors will be taken to Simon Mwewa Road. Works are underway and now the contractor is doing the pavings,” Mr Habeenzu said.
Two weeks ago, the LCC during its full council meeting agreed to clear street vendors in the capital city.
It was during this third ordinary council meeting that the council identified a piece of land in Chibolya where it intends to build a mega market for vendors.
“We have not agreed on the actual date but this exercise will be done prior to the 50 years jubilee celebrations, anytime we will move in,” Mr Mulunda said.
But Lusaka vendors have vowed not to relocate to the proposed vending area alleging that the new area is small to accommodate them.
“We do not want a situation where a few people are allocated places and others are stuck, with nowhere to trade from. The council should find a place that will accommodate all of us, or else we will not move,” says Jimmy Kabungo a vendor on Lusaka’s Cairo Road.
Mr Kabungo has charged that the Lusaka City Council (LCC) lacks consistence in the management of street vendors.
“It is not the first time the council is threatening to chase us from the streets here in Lusaka, we have been hearing this song for a long time and we are used now. Let them come, they will find us,” Mr Kabungo said.