The Lusaka City Council (LCC) is devising a mechanism where street vendors would be restricted to sell their products on weekends.
Council Public Relations Manager, Chanda Makanta, told ZANIS in an interview that the local authority is considering introducing a weekend market on Cha Cha Cha road for street vendors to sell their merchandise.
Mrs. Makanta explained that once this initiative is implemented, street vendors found trading during the week would be prosecuted and would have their goods confiscated.
She said the move is aimed at ridding the streets of street vendors who have thronged the Lusaka streets.
She was reacting to Lusaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s (LCCI) calls that the council should introduce a weekend market for street vendors on Cha Cha Cha road.
She said the local authority requires the cooperation of street vendors and all other stakeholders for the initiative to yield the desired results.
Mrs. Makanta said the council needs support from all stakeholders if street vending was to be effectively eradicated.
The Council Public Relations Manager said what people need to understand was that street vending was a health hazard.
Mrs. Makanta said that was why the local authority has been doing its best with the help of other stakeholders to built markets for traders in the capital city.
She said the idea of considering introducing a weekend market on Cha Cha Cha road should be supported by all Zambians, especially Lusaka residents.
Mrs. Makanta also said the collection of levies from the traders once the weekend market is introduced would help the local authority to effectively manage and maintain the new market.
She also said the LCC would do a study on considering making some roads one-way-traffic in the capital city in order to decongest them.
The introduction of a weekend market would mean that street vendors will only be allowed to trade over the weekends while on other days, they would be trading from markets around their townships.
The Lusaka City Council has for a long time now been battling to eradicate street vending in the capital city.
ZANIS/AJN/KSH/ENDS
You people like compromising and when things go sour you start complaining. Neither warm nor hot. It is not a right strategy unless you want to have votes of the kaponjas in 2011.
Sounds like a good idea,really.Sanitation in terms of toilets show also be considered seriously.We have week end markets in London and they seem to work very well.
i think thats a good strategy. if they can only sale on the weekend it will restrict vendors being everywhere everyday. with this strategy it can help vendors put more money in their pockets and it will also keep vending around the streets under control, that is if this strategy is regulated very well.
This cannot be a solution to the problem of street vending.Remember,these people have to earn a leaving.what it means is that these people will be working over weekends.How are they going to meet their daily needs.Ba council just find a lasting solution,this one is not feasible
The streets of Lusaka look very dirty by the way salaula is all over , Lumumba road, Freedom way road its now going to chacha cha road soon it will be cairo. i dont know what the minister and the lusaka council are thinking about. weekend market is not a solution.
Weekend markets??????? they will still come back to the same street on monday so theres no use compromising with vendors. Let them sell at designated places.
What would happen if we all start following our prospective clients and customers?? there will be no use for offices around, so the council should not compromise with these vendors they are jst making the city dirty, salis, vegis all over. awe
Appeasement is not the solution! Street vending is creating filth, period. What weekend vending nafuti? Next, you will be creating a vendors desk at State house and another at Arcades!!
#6. Ba Moze. Vendors’ desk at state house ka? That was *****ic. What did it achieve?
LT, something is *****ic if it’s inviting ridicule. I didn’t see any problem in my usage of the word in the comment you have just edited.
Street vending has dogged city councils contry-wide for a long time now. This is a very pro-active solution to the probloem. Please consider them trading from friday to sunday. This way the vendors wont have to complain that they are treated unfairly. Big up to LCC
No. 2, consider the social and economic conditions prevailing in London. The council there has equipment for cleaning up once the markets are over at the end of the day. They also have adequate sanitation measures to prevent outbreaks of such things as swine flu etc epidemics in general. We do not have any of those and that should be the starting point. Unless we are assured that those things will be put in place, then excellent idea.
it can be a good idea as long as it is planned properly and instead of using chachacha they shuold consider using freedomway cause it is big