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Sikhulekelani Moyo, [email protected]

VENDORS that operate along 5th Avenue are pleading with the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to allow them to continue working from the area as the local authority is preparing it for the reallocation of bays.

The local authority had proposed to close down the area for a week to make way for refurbishments.

This comes at a time when 5th Avenue has been officially opened for vending after the city council resolved to temporarily close a portion of 5th Avenue to accommodate 500 informal trading bays.

According to the Bulawayo City Council, the closure of a portion of 5th Avenue rescinds previous Council resolutions of 3rd June 2020 and 7 December 2022.

The council said the portion of 5th Avenue will now have two riding lanes and vending bays for the 500 informal traders.

In a meeting held last week by various vendor associations and the city council at the large City Hall, vendors were told that BCC will need to temporarily close 5th Avenue so that they do proper demarcation of bays and allocate them to registered vendors.

According to the Working Group chairperson Mr Dumisani Ncube, he said BCC will need at least one week to work on 5th Avenue ahead of the reallocation of bays.

However, this didn’t go well with traders who said they survive hand to mouth, so one week is too much for them to spend without trading.

Yesterday morning, it was activity as usual at 5th Avenue with vendors saying they are still waiting for the signal from the city council.

In an interview with some vendors yesterday, Ms Elita Ndlovu said since 5th Avenue has three segments, the city council should work on one segment at a time giving them a chance to trade while they renovate the area.

“One week is too much, we are appealing for them to allow us to sell our products whilst they work, we won’t disturb them, we survive through hand to mouth so we can’t spend a single day without selling,” she said.

Some had suggested that whilst BCC is working on one segment maybe for two days some will be operating from other segments.

BCC said the council recognised the need to balance the multiple functions of the road such as parking, informal trading, vehicular traffic movement, and access to property by property owners.

The temporary closure will ensure that all road users including property owners from the southern side can park their vehicles close to their working spaces.

The decision to temporarily close 5th Avenue is a result of stakeholder engagement and dovetails with the City of Bulawayo’s strategy to enhance local economic development through the provision of accessible and affordable working spaces.

Also, the council will establish a new vending site for clothing and fruits along Lobengula Street between 2nd Avenue terminus and the municipal Roads Yard.

This is a BCC initiative to bring order and sanity to the city.

This has seen the removal of commuter omnibuses that are loading and unloading in undesignated areas following the reopening of Egodini.

Mr Onious Dube said they are happy with the developments in the city to bring order and sanity.

He however said they have requested for the city council not to totally close the area during renovations and cleaning of 5th Avenue but rather try to work alongside them.

“We are still waiting for them to tell us what to do because we have already submitted our request. We cannot survive a day without visiting our working area,” he said.

@SikhulekelaniM1