AUTHORITIES at Mtize flea market have not yet opened the place for traders because rehabilitation work is not complete after it was gutted by fire some time last year.
A total of 315 vendors who were trading at the flea market lost their wares when fire broke out in August last year destroying property worth US$1 million.
The flea market is located along Lobengula Street between 8th Avenue Extension and Leopold Takawira Avenue.
Mtize flea market committee members, who spoke to Southern Eye recently, said they were still in the dark on when the place will reopen its doors for business.“We don’t know the official opening date of the market as the owner of the property is yet to announce. We are still waiting to hear from them on how much the rent will be,” said a member only identified as Mufunda responding to enquiries.
Many of the vendors are still recovering from the losses they incurred.
Opper Mutaswa, a committee member and vendor, said she lost property worth US$11 000.
Keep Reading
- Kombi operators fret over police raids
- Zuze’s images exude self-expression, individuality
- Robber's wife up for money laundering
- Kara’s novel rare story about Indian migrants in Southern Rhodesia
“To be honest, everyone knows that I was affected severely. I had sold my commuter omnibus to invest in my business and I had invested US$11 000. All was burnt. I was really affected and I haven’t returned to normalcy,” Mutaswa said.
Omega Mtize, the daughter of Mtize flea market owner, said they were still waiting for the rehabilitation of the infrastructure to be completed as the roofing and painting were still not complete.
“There were 315 vendors that were affected by the fire. We have now an extra 20 or more people that are selling their stuff here now,” she said.
Prior to this, the Bulawayo City Council had announced plans to redesign and modernise flea markets as a way of mitigating disasters like fire outbreaks.