Government says it expects works on Lusaka’s gutted City market and Simon Mwewa lane market to be completed in the next four weeks and start operating by January 2023.
Local Government and Rural Development Minister, Gary Nkombo who was speaking during a spot check of the two markets has expressed worry at the failure by the contractor to complete the works in time.
Mr Nkombo cited unnecessary bureaucracy for the delays in the completion of the project said he was disheartened that there has been minimal progress despite the release of K22 million by the central government early this year.
He however said a tripartite meeting recently to ensure that funds for the completion will be channeled direct to ZNS as the main contractor and not DMMU as has been the case in the past resulting into delays.
And Lusaka City Mayor Chilando Chintangala who accompanied the Minister on his spot check said the two facilities once completed will comprise 7,000 trading points with the bulk of street vendors expected to be accommodated and reduce on street vending.
Ms Chintangala also said that her office will soon engage an independent consultancy firm to establish the total number of vendors on the streets and those trading in designate points in the city.
Fire swept through Zambia’s biggest trading hub in the early hours of Wednesday July 4, 2017, throwing the survival prospects of thousands of marketeers in jeopardy.
