Chirundu to benefit from COMESA traders project
Written by Millennium on June 3, 2019
LILLIAN CHIKANDI writes
@SunZambian
COMESA seeks to launch a project that will support small scale cross border traders at five targeted border posts within the region including Chirundu, says council secretary John Mwanza
Mr. Mwanza said that the council had been given 14 days in which to find a big land along the T2 road for use by the Cross border Traders Association.
“There is often a lack of specicific basic infrastructure at the border to cater for the needs of small scale traders that compounds the overall constraints resulting from lack of access of electricity, transport and telecommunications,” said Mr Mwanza.
He said that proper border infrastructures such as markets, storage warehouses, health and sanitary facilities especially for women ,decentralized sanitary and phyto-sanitary certification centres, accommodation, security lightings or pedestrian lanes , often lacked g at the borders resulting in chaotic and unsafe situations.
He said poor quality or absence of storage facilities often resulted in traders selling perishable stocks at losses to prevent spoilage.
Mr. Mwanza further said that women cross border traders who dealt primarily in low value, perishable primary products were particularly susceptible to that occurrence.
He said therefore that the COMESA project which included the design, building and management of border infrastructures for small scale traders such as border markets, storage facilitie,security cameras, health or sanitation facilities could not have come at a better time than now.
Mr. Mwanza called on the members of public with land to consider offering it for such development despite land disputes between Chiefs Chipepo and Sikoongo.
