THE Kwekwe City Council has converted Amaveni Bus Terminus into a marketplace as a way of regularising the operation of vendors in the city.

The move by the local authority is also meant to ensure hygiene is maintained post-lockdown.

The development comes as the local authority took advantage of the lockdown and demolished illegal structures and unregularised vending places in the mining town.

Kwekwe Town Clerk Dr Lucia Mnkandla said the move to demolish illegal structures was in line with the cleaner cities concept as directed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

She said the local authority was moving to regularise vending hence it was creating more vending stalls for the traders.

“The demolition was nothing personal but in line with the cleaner cities concept as enunciated by President Mnangagwa.

“We are, however, moving to regularise vending by creating a database and constructing more regularised vending places that are easily monitored by the council,” said Dr Mnkandla.

She said besides converting Amaveni, which had been idle for a number of years, into a market place, the local authority was creating more vending places in the Central Business District (CBD) and other areas like Mbizo.

Besides costing council thousands of dollars in licences, the illegal structures were posing as a health hazard to the residents.

Demolitions targeted backyard food outlets, illegal flea markets and vending stalls as well as shebeens that had sprouted around the city.

“This is clearly not a fight against our residents, but simply a fight against the spread of diseases associated by such unhygienic places.

“We are actually playing our role in a bid to protect the citizenry. As a way forward we are saying people who want to operate should approach council and regularise their operations. Anything illegal will not be tolerated going forward,” said Dr Mnkandla.

-State Media