HUNDREDS of informal Gweru traders, who were relocated to a site outside the central business district (CBD) ahead of President Robert Mugabe’s visit for the Zanu PF youth interface rally last Friday, have threatened to move back, claiming the new site had thrown them out of business.
By Stephen Chadenga
The vendors said their customers were still to get used to the new site.
“The Old Post Office site was convenient to customers, but now, few people are visiting my vending stall since we were relocated last week,” a vendor, Mary Ncube, said.
“It’s not easy to sell when you are outside the city and in the days I have been here (new site), I have seen a reduction in the revenue I got as compared to Old Post Office.”
Another vendor, Solomon Chiketo, said he used to make at least $20 a day from selling second-hand clothes, but was now getting less than $10 since he moved to the new site.
Several other vendors told the same story, saying they were finding it difficult to attract customers at the new site.
But mayor, Charles Chikozho said the relocation of the informal traders would bring order to the CBD, as well as the utilisation of the Swift site, which he said had been lying idle for years.
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“As council, we put in a lot of money on the new site, but no one was willing to move there,” he said.
