While we appreciate the need for a clean city, we remain very much alive to the fact that vending is a source of livelihood to thousands of unemployed residents in Harare.
It is in this vein that we call upon responsible authorities to expand vending sites and ensure that vendors are relocated in areas that are conducive for business. Restoring order and cleanliness should not impact negatively on livelihoods hence the need for a win-win strategy.
Restoring order in the capital.also requires that vendors are provided with sufficient trading spaces at the designated sites that must be easily accessible to customers.
Over the years, we have witnessed how vendors have abandoned “designated sites” that were not accessible to customers hence the need to create vending spaces that are economically viable.
CHRA also calls upon authorities and the municipal police to exercise restraint and desist from a heavy handed approach in implementing the operation Chenesa Harare aimed at removing vendors from undesignated sites.
There is also a critical need to consider the plight of special groups that include people living with disabilities who are making a living out of vending.
Special consideration must be given to their plight.
A clean city yes; but residents’ livelihoods matter.
Post published in: Featured