CEASAR MBEWE writes
@SunZambian
TRADERS at Lusaka’s City market are unhappy with the pilling garbage there and have told the Lusaka City Council (LCC) to quickly collect and dispose it off.
The traders complained that the delays by the local authority in disposing off of garbage is posing a serious health hazard to them and the buyers.
In an interview with The Sun, one of the traders, Janet Mubanga disclosed that the council has lately been delaying in collecting the garbage claiming it did not have fuel.
She complained that the problem of uncollected garbage had become unbearable with the current indiscriminate littering going on there.
“It is disappointing that they are delaying in collecting the piling garbage. They (LCC) are actually supposed to collect it every after two days. They have not done that lately because they are saying they do not have fuel,” Ms Mubanga said.
She said the uncollected garbage was posing a serious health threat to the traders and the public in general.
Another trader, Monica Musonda, who had been selling at City Market for 8 years, complained that the huge garbage heap next to her makeshift stand was affecting her business and health.
She said that when the plastics and some chemicals are dumped near her stand, they not collected on time and it leads to emission of toxic smells and pollution.
“The garbage here is making us sick and affecting our business because when it’s not collected on time, it produces bad smell and it chases away customers,” she said.
And Mary Lungu, 40, a mother of 4 who has been running a restaurant at the City Market for the past 5 years, said that her business has lately been slow because of uncollected garbage.
“The customers cannot come here anymore because of the bad smell from the garbage,” she stated.
“I don’t know how what I’m going to do to survive because business is slow. The council cant collect this garbage on time and its affecting our business,” she said.