Dar es Salaam the municipal director, Fotunatus Fwema

Kinondoni Municipal Council has announced that it will launch an operation geared at removing vendors at Mwenge bus station this month.

Speaking to The Guardian on Tueasday in Dar es Salaam the municipal director, Fotunatus Fwema, said the exercise is a continuous process of various operations being done by the council.

He said such operations have been carried out in various places including Ubungo Bus Terminal (UBT).

Fwema said the purpose of the operation is to ensure safety of the shop owners, who are complaining of being blocked by vendors.

“Vendors have been running their businesses in front of other people’s shops ignoring them the opportunity to sell their commodities,” said Fwema.

He said already more than 100 businessmen have requested the council to remove or relocate the vendors.

Otherwise, Fwema said, the businessmen would instead close their shops and move to some other places.

According to the businessmen, the council has delayed to take action since the problem has persisted for a long time.

However, chairman of the shops owners’ at Mwenge area, Jacob Bernard, said the act of vendors conducting their businesses in front of their shops leads them to incur loss since they sell same products placed in their shops.

Bernard said: “What has sudden us most is the fact that vendors at this bus stand conduct their businesses without licences, but businessmen who pay tax to the council seem not to be heard by the authorities”.

He stressed that theft and chaos among customers often erupted in the area due to the presence of vendors, adding: “they also have a tendency of preventing customers from entering our shops”.

On June 12, this year they wrote the Director of Kinondoni Municipality to register their complaints, he said.