Mkushi vendors won’t move

VENDORS trading at Mkushi Old Hospital Bridge have vowed not go back to designated trading places allocated to them by the district council.

The vendors said the place was too small and could not accommodate all of them.

In an interview Sydney Monde, one of the vendors, said there was no business at the designated trading place at the new market.

Mr Monde said there were limited customers who bought merchandise from the new market, unlike at the bridge.

He said people preferred to buy from the streets than going to the market.

Mr Monde said business at the bridge was going on well unlike vending on streets as well as compared to the designated trading place given by the council.

“We will never go back to the designated trading place allocated by the council because there is no business there at new market and customers are few,” he said.

Another vendor, Clement Chipeti, wondered why the council wanted to take vendors back to the new market where there was no business and yet it always collected levies from marketeers while the place had remained unkempt with no improvement.

Mr Chipeti said with his small capital he could not trade from the market because there were already established businesses with bigger capital and abundant merchandise.

He said he was aware of how dangerous it was to trade at the Old Hospital Bridge but that was where business was good.

“Council revenue collectors get K1.00 every day from vendors here.

We do not know why the council wants to take us back to the New Market where the place is vacated,” Mr Chipeti said.

Mkushi District Council public relations officer amara Mwanza urged the traders to be careful as they traded on the bridge to avoid accidents.