Mangaliso Kabulika
HARARE City Council Small to Medium Enterprise Committee chairperson, Danford Ngadziore, has warned vendors that they will face arrest for dumping litter at their points of sale.
This is meant to enhance cleanliness and preserve the urban environment in the central business district (CBD).
The city has been battling illegal dumping of litter by vendors, and Ngadziore said arrests will be made if they do not comply with the rules.
“Even if we employ 3 000 cleaners in the CBD, they won’t be able to clean the city because in the evening we have over 80 000 vendors.
“Therefore, these vendors must be part of the solution. We must engage and educate them. Failure to comply will result in arrest for littering.
“The legal team must come up with a minimum fine in the event of arrest, but it must be affordable so that our team does not resort to bribes.
“The issue of littering can be a revenue stream for the council,” he said.
However, some vendors have pointed out that it is not always practical for them to dispose of rubbish in the correct manner without bins being provided by the council.
“This whole issue of arrests is not making sense as the council does not provide bins for us to dump the litter. We end up dumping it anywhere.
“Some of the bins in the CBD are not even emptied, they are full and some are perforated on their surface due to burning of litter in them so where do they expect us to dump litter?
“They should address the issue of bins first before arresting us,” said a vendor, Mai Mayengwa.
Another vendor said dumping points are far from where they sell.
“I cannot leave my business to dump litter. We are many vendors and there is competition and I have a target profit to reach, so how will I attain it when I’m attending to litter?” said the vendor.
A shoe vendor, Nyasha Ruzvidzo, said:
“The issue of arrests and fine is a great initiative. We have struggled with litter, especially from the vegetable vendors, worse still in this time of mazhanje and rain; the sight is disgusting.
“At least, it will push them to sweep or to carry disposable bins which they can place all their litter in.”