Lilongwe City an eyesore

One of the issues President Peter Mutharika said he would raise at the US-African leaders’ summit in Washing DC in the US was to attract foreign direct investment. While foreign investment song has repeatedly been sung by succeeding governments, rarely do they create a conducive environment even for issues like sanitation and cleanliness of cities.Which serious foreign investor would come and invest in a filth city like Lilongwe?

Lilongwe is one city where sanitation and cleanliness has deteriorated beyond tolerable levels. Apart from the usual dust which the city assembly has failed to bury for decades, wherever one goes, one finds heaps of uncollected rubbish scattered along the streets or roads. This has been made worse by vendors who have now taken over the commercial business district (CBD) from Liyati filling station all the way down to Lilongwe River near Town Hall. Others are trading along Malangalanga road, behind city council rest house. Worse still, some vendors are selling food in very unhygienic environment. Sewage water from broken toilet pipes is just an arm’s length from where they are selling.

The whole CBD has been engulfed by vendors who have utilized every available space including sidewalks to sell their goods. In the evening when vendors retire to their homes, they leave behind a trail of all kinds of litter scattered all over the whole area (viswaswapali pose). A million questions can be asked: Where are the assembly officials? What are they doing about the situation? Where is the minister of local government? Do these officials really know what a city is?

While it is appreciated that the economic situation is harsh and everyone is trying to make ends meet, it is unacceptable that people should be allowed to trade anywhere regardless of how unhygienic, inconvenience or potential danger such vending causes to society. A few years ago vendors were forcibly removed from the streets after they failed to voluntarily leave when ordered to. The streets were clean and safe from thugs. Somehow, vendors have come back with a vengeance!

Street vending happens everywhere including in cities like Johannesburg, London, Paris and New York, but it is controlled. There are certain areas where vending is not allowed no matter what. How do you put your wares on roads or sidewalks?

There is need to balance between legitimate needs of people to exercise their socio-economic rights and maintaining good sanitation, keeping the environment clean and keeping roads and streets clear. The Lilongwe City Council (LCC) cannot just sit idle and watch the situation deteriorate. Yes, trading space is limited, but this cannot be a justifiable reason to let people behave as they please. If anything, the city assembly should upgrade the Lilongwe market, pull down the old market and construct a new modern two-storey one. Each stall should have a roller door. There is a lot of space to construct a huge market. Lilongwe market was constructed in the ‘70s, but it looks the same.

Lilongwe’s vending and poor sanitation epitomes a city in which city officials are not doing their job. They are being paid for doing nothing. Lilongwe is the seat of government. It hosts high profile events and receives visitors from different countries. Every effort should be made to ensure that the city is clean and vendors trade in designated areas. Vendors may have been allowed back on the streets because some politicians wanted to score cheap political points during the tripartite elections. Or the current government does not want to act because it wants to be seen to be good to vendors. Either way is wrong. There are certain things you do not compromise or tolerate for health and safety reasons.

Although councillors have now been elected, daily operations of the city assembly still rests with CEO and his team. Lilongwe city assembly officials should therefore stop sleeping on the job and bring sanity to the city. The city looks ugly; it is an eyesore. They should not waste time, but move in to “clear” and clean the city. Meanwhile, we are watching you!