INVESTIGATIONS into the cause of a fire that broke out at Mbare Musika last week have reportedly stalled as the Harare fire department struggles to establish the cause after vendors quickly moved to clean and occupy the space, NewsDay has learnt.
The heart of Mbare on Tuesday last week came to a standstill when goods and merchandise worth millions of United States dollars were destroyed in an inferno, posing serious ramifications for approximately 5 000 families who lost their sources of livelihood.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa has since declared the fire a state of disaster.
Addressing councillors and vendors’ representatives during a stakeholder/working group consultative meeting to proffer solutions, mayor Jacob Mafume said they were still waiting for an accurate report from the fire brigade.
He said they were currently working with suspicion that the fire must have emanated from the use of charcoal which blended with other elements.
“As council, we are waiting on the Fire Brigade to tell us what the real cause of the fire is. They have a suspicion that the fire must have emanated from charcoal which was being used to cook, but was not properly disposed of,” he said.
“The charcoal further blended with other dry produce, therefore, resulting in a profuse fire. Unfortunately, we have not had time to adequately do forensic tracing as vendors panicked that they may be displaced and quickly cleaned the space.”
Mafume said council was making arrangements to ensure that they allay fears of displacement as restructuring is underway.
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“There is trauma of what happened with Mupedzanhamo, where it was shut down and it then ended up being shut down for five or so years, with people not being able to get in. So any initiative must address where the traders will temporarily operate from if the works do not allow them to be there and identify the space and make it functional,” the mayor said.
“There also is need for a timeline for whatever construction is being done and also that it must be visible, so that the trauma of Mupedzanhamo does not occur.”
Mafume said the council had approved its staff to activate quick reactions to the disaster and act in a manner that is necessary to deal with the emergency.
“One of the issues that we discussed in the meeting was that we needed to look at ways for appealing for compensation for those whose properties were destroyed,” he said.
“Two ways of redesigning not only the Mbare retail, but Mbare wholesale market is to come up with a new architectural design that people can be sure and agree with.
“We said our department should come up with a draft by the end of this week. Secondly, to find an engagement model on how to construct whatever it is that will be constructed.”
Mafume said there were two major problems among other challenges affecting operations in Mbare, including civil works, where there is need for drainage and a lack of structures.
“The top soil needs to be moved maybe to 40cm to 60cm and a new cell to put. There is need for more structures and in the up way of structures, one storey, two storeys or three storeys up, to be able to contain the volumes and to expand the market,” the mayor said.
“There is need for climate control within those structures so that the temperatures can be kept low for the fresh vegetables and because of the volumes of people that move.
“There is need for fire equipment at the site and also fire drills at the place for people to understand, those who will be guarding the premises, for them to understand what they need to do in case of a fire if they are guarding overnight.”
The government has since resolved to reconstruct the market, adding that it was promoting private sector participation to complement its efforts.
“Accordingly, Cabinet approved engagement of a leading engineering, construction and development company to partner government in rebuilding the Mbare Traders Market, under a Design, Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Finance model,” Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services minister Jenfan Muswere said during a post-Cabinet media briefing on Tuesday this week.
“This model will ensure that high-quality facilities are completed and commissioned within the shortest possible time. It will also allow traders to resume operations in an orderly environment that facilitates formalisation and payment of taxes.
“The model can and will be replicated to upgrade other similar markets across the country. Meanwhile, government will, under the disaster management framework, provide the necessary livelihood and social assistance support to ensure that the affected traders pull through the immediate difficulties they face.”
