By ALICE NACHILEMBE
Kitwe City Council says it has started prosecution of people buying goods from undesignated places.
Kitwe Town Clerk Mbulo Seke said that the Local Authority has mounted surveillance on the streets and will, by Monday next week, start to arrest and prosecute people buying goods or merchandise from the undesignated places.
Mr Seke has cautioned members of the public who have developed the habit of buying goods and merchandise from the undesignated places.
He said that the Local Authority has observed unhealthy customer behaviour preferring to buy from the streets instead of designated trading places.
Mr Seke said this will encouraging traders to abandon their market stands which is contributing to the increase in street vending, street congestion and street littering as well as loss of revenue in the markets.
“Under the law, any person found buying goods or merchandise from the undesignated places or streets shall be liable, on conviction, to a fine of 666.67 penalty units or K200.00,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Local Authority is inviting all persons who desire to sell in the market to register with the Market Manager (Room 8, Civic Centre) or the Market Masters (at Chisokone Green Shelter) for allocation of market spaces.
“The Local Authority has secured 340 stands in Chisokone B Market Shelters, 30 stands at the Green Market, 21 stands at Olympic and 450 stands at Chisokone A, making a total of 841 spaces available in Chisokone Market alone against a self-imposed street vending population of 819 (disaggregated as Salaula 287, Vegetables 133, dry foods 157 and others for belts, shoes cosmetics, fruit, bread, cassava, groundnuts, 242).
Those who will be found selling on the streets even when there are spaces available in the market after the deadline will be doing so at their own peril as they will be taken to the fast track court,” he said.
