The Sunday Mail
It is easy to despair over Zimbabwe’s twin vendor-pirate taxi menace.
Diehards in these two informal fields sprout like mushrooms as soon as the authorities look the other way.
But there are ways of dealing with the scourge without necessarily seeing running battles between authorities and illegal traders and transporters.
At one point, street vending was illegal and hawking was a non-bailable offence in some states in India.
The law was repealed after the Indian government realised that street vending affords low-end but steady employment for a sizeable chunk of the population.
Our Government has had a similar realisation.
Through the local authorities, vendors are being registered and relocated to designated areas outside the CBD. It is a good move but the concept may need further adjustment.
On city pavements, people hawk a variety of fast moving consumer goods like fruit and vegetables and household utilities that most people would be reluctant to travel far to purchase.
Thus, there is need to create strategic market vending streets like is the case with many states in India.
Bulawayo is already trying this.
The public knows which streets are for vending and what time vendors are allowed to set up their stalls.
India’s local authorities have an up-to-date database of vendors. This also includes knowledge of the average revenue that each one generates.
With a clear system and legal vending sites in place, order naturally follows.
India’s Ambassador to Zimbabwe Rungsung Masakui believes a holistic approach is needed in dealing with the vendor issue.
“There are vendors in my country and we have come up with ways to regularise their operations. So far it is working out well and Zimbabwe can learn one or two things from the systems that have been put in place,” says Ambassador Masakui.
India encourages those who want to be public transporters to use auto rickshaw taxis that are also known as “tuk tuk”.
The small three-wheelers are a common form of urban transport, both as a vehicle for hire and for private use in many countries around the world including developing nations like Madagascar and Nigeria.
A sheet-metal body or open frame resting on three wheels, a canvas roof with drop-down side curtains, a small cabin at the front for the driver are some of the features for the common type.
Adoption of such a mode of transport in Zimbabwe for shuttle purposes will help bring down transport costs.
Tuk tuks consume less fuel due to smaller engine capacity, and they reduce congestion in the CBD.
Part of the regulations in the South Asian country entail tuk tuk operators to use point-of-sale machines that are Visa compliant.
