Area 36 vendors return to streets
Vendors in Lilongwe’s Area 36, who were chased off the streets by police and Lilongwe City Council (LCC) two months ago, have returned to doing business along the prohibited area.
During a visit to the site on Monday, The Nation crew saw vendors putting up structures in readiness for resumption of business.
Lilongwe streets
In October this year, Malawi Police Service (MPS) and LCC chased the vendors and burnt down their structures because they were operating on illegal premises. The act led to chaos as traffic had to be diverted and police ended up shutting down the whole road due to the irate vendors.
In an interview on Monday, LCC director of commerce Genscher Mbwabwa said the council was aware of the development and given the vendors an ultimatum to vacate the premises.
Said Mbwabwa: “We had a meeting with the vendors where they said they are ready to demolish their structures. But if they will not, we will do it tonight [Monday].”
According to Mbwabwa, the biggest challenge is lack of resources.
“You see, if we chase them, after some time they come [back] because we do not have enough money for patrols. This is a big challenge, but this time around we will chase them away and this is not a joke,” he said.
Lilongwe Police Station spokesperson Kingsley Dandaula said the vendors are trading on illegal property and need to be removed.
