PRISCA MANYIWA-MASUKU
MIRROR REPORTER

GOKWE – Gokwe Town Council is constructing low cost temporary vending stalls to generate funds to construct long term structures, acting town secretary Engineer Melsen Masukume has said.
He told The Mirror that vendors have been operating in open spaces leaving them and their wares exposed to harsh weather conditions. Masukume added that money realised from rentals paid by vendors will be used to construct more long-term structures in the near future.
“We have heard numerous calls by vendors and we know that it is our mandate to provide them with a conducive environment to work. Our main challenge is funding so we are constructing these temporary stalls to raise funds for establishment of permanent market stalls.
“We have constructed 160 stalls so far and soon vendors will move into the stalls. We have been struggling to collect revenue from vendors since they didn’t have a permanent operating space,” he said.
The town’s draft masterplan said that 436 vendors in the district don’t have allocated vending spaces and ablution facilities.
Midion Marowa, a vendor in Gokwe told The Mirror that he has been selling clothes in the open since 2016 and most of them were affected by the sun before they were bought.
“I have been a vendor selling clothes since 2016 and I have experienced losses because the clothes will be exposed to direct sunlight and during the rainy season, we sometimes use plastic to cover our wares and this is futile. Council has finally made a good decision to give us better shelter, it may not be what we expected but it is better,” said Marowa.
Another vendor Maria Mtiswa said operating in the open has been difficult for her.
“I am a vegetables vendor in Gokwe since 2018, it has been very difficult to display my vegetables and tomatoes in the open because of dust and other hash weather conditions,” she said.