Vendors clear garbage at Mzuzu Main Market

Vendors on Friday cleared waste around Mzuzu Main Market which piled up following a two-week sit-in by Mzuzu City Council employees over unpaid salaries.

In an interview, Mapini Chicken Sellers chairperson Rajah Mvula said they embarked on the exercise because the place started stinking; hence, not conducive for business.

“We hired a vehicle to ferry the refuse because the council employees were on sit-in. This development led to accumulation of waste around the area where we do our business,” he said.

Mvula said the vendors noted that their business was going down as customers were shying away from buying chickens due to the smelly environment.

“We understand that the council is financially challenged; hence, our coming in as both patriotic citizens and beneficiaries of the market,” he said.

In a separate interview, the council’s spokesperson McDonald Gondwe commended the vendors’ initiative and appealed to other people in different markets to emulate the gesture.

The vendors spent about K300 000 for the exercise.