This
site is designed for Internet Explorer and Netscape Navigator versions
4 and above and a screen resolution of at least 800x600
|
|
|
Flea markets may be a white elephant
By
Our Reporter - 09-10-2002 |
|
|
It seems there is no end in sight for the vendors’ saga in Blantyre. The last time we reported on the issue, the vendors were refusing to occupy the flea market because it had no benches and lockers.
Now that this has been resolved we have fresh problems. The vendors are demanding money for loans allegedly promised by the President earlier in the year and are wondering how 1,400 of them will fit in a 400-seater market.
The former reason is interesting. The vendors are now plying their trade in the city and one wonders how their need for more capital is connected to their occupation of the flea market. One only sees the vendors seizing an opportunity to blackmail the authorities.
But the second point is a genuine problem which City Mayor John Chikakwiya and the assembly will need to address seriously. If we have to believe the vendors’ figures, just how would 1,400 vendors fit in a market designed for 400 vendors? If only 400 will be let in, what criteria will be used to determine those who get in, assuming there will be scramble for places?
Of course, the reality is that, given a choice, vendors will prefer the status quo, a thing that partly explains their litany of excuses at every opportunity. In fact, even where there was enthusiasm to get in, some will still be outside the market and, therefore, be forced to remain on the street.
What all that will come down to is that the whole programme of erecting the flea markets will prove to be a white elephant, achieving none of its objectives, among them keeping our streets clean and enabling the assembly to collect revenue. It is tempting to believe that the money spent on this project could have been put to better use. |
|
|
|
|
|
