INFORMAL traders operating from Glen View 8 Complex owe an estimated $856 000 to Harare City Council in outstanding fees and rent, acting Harare town clerk Josephine Ncube told Parliament on Thursday.
BY VENERANDA LANGA
Ncube had appeared before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) chaired by Gokwe MP Dorothy Mangami where she was grilled over measures the council was taking to ensure good working conditions of informal traders and SMEs in Harare.
The $856 000 accumulated after vendors were duped by space barons who made them pay the fees to them instead of council.
“The monthly rental charges as per budget approval for the year 2015/16 per month including tax is $46,” Ncube said.
“Arrears accrued at Glen View Complex as at June 30 amount to $856 000, and most of the arrears were accrued after some SMEs were duped by space barons resulting in the rise of their rental arrears, and lease holders are not remitting payments to council to clear the arrears.”
Glen View 8 Complex was destroyed by fire in July last year due to a suspected electrical fault.
Ncube said council had since assessed the extent of the damage and was considering reconstruction of the factory shells.
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At the Gazaland Home Industries in Highfield, the committee found informal traders working in unhygienic conditions with one toilet for hundreds of people. Ncube said council was finalising plans to construct new factory shells.
In Glen View about 1 200 factory shells will be constructed at a cost of $7,5 million.
“There are 483 registered traders at Glen View 8 factory shells, and the rent will be $46 per month. The source of the funds will be from the public-private partnerships, budgeted funds of $3 million, minus $1 million earmarked for Glen View, as well as from the 20% market revenue retention fund. The trades to work there will be carpentry, welding, hardware and food courts.
“This will be done in phases and is expected to take 36 months to complete,” Ncube said.
She said after the fire gutted Glen View 8 Complex, council reduced rental tariffs from $46 to $23 per person per month.
She told the committee that the criterion for allocation of stands was guided by a waiting list, adding some of the security measures they will put in Glen View include fire hydrants, extinguishers at every stand, access points and roads, periodic fire assessments, erection of durawall around complex, police post and others.
