The government plans to create safe, healthier, and modern markets across the country, including in Harare.
This initiative will address the Mbare Traders Market, which was devastated by a fire last Tuesday night, as well as the Glen View Area 8 furniture home industry, which has a history of fires.
During a press briefing following yesterday’s Cabinet meeting, Jenfan Muswere, the Minister of Information, Publicity, and Broadcasting Services, announced that Cabinet had received and approved the report on the market reconstruction in partnership with the private sector. He said:
Accordingly, Cabinet approved the engagement of a leading engineering, construction and development company to partner with the Government in rebuilding the Mbare Traders’ Market, under a Design, Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Finance (DEPC+F) model.
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.
Muswere said the Harare City Council lacks the capacity to tackle these incidents. He added that government intervention is necessary and that it is encouraging private sector involvement to support its efforts. He said:
Pertinent to note is that similar fire incidences have been recorded at other markets in the City of Harare, with the primary causes being use of highly combustible materials and lack of fire-prevention infrastructure. The Harare City Council does not have the capacity to address the incidents.
Local Government and Public Works Minister Daniel Garwe said that the government’s approach was shifting away from the previous situation where some informal traders had become unmanageable. He said:
We are going to put modern infrastructure on perhaps two, or three floors to ensure that those that are involved in dealing with hardware have their floor, those that have ICT equipment on a different floor and so on.
We are all aware that Mbare Traders’ Market in particular was generating an excess of US$2 million per day and what was gutted by fire we are told is also more than about US$20 million.
It is a huge economy on its own and we need to put proper structures that are sustainable to climate change, that are sustainable to any fire or any other disaster.
Garwe said the model will be replicated at Glen View Area 8, which is Harare’s largest furniture manufacturing centre in Harare.
More: Pindula News