CALLS FOR ILLEGAL BRICK MAKERS TO BE EMBRACE INTENSIFIED IN ZIMBABWE
Residents of Hwange community in Zimbabwe has urge Hwange Local Board (HLB) to embrace the illegal brick makers in the community.
For over a decade, the illegal brick makers had been disturbing HLB, but in the past few months it has escalated because of economic hardship and the loss of jobs caused by Covid-19.
This disturbance has seen HLB security involved in running battles with hordes of brick moulders in Empumalanga, Don Bosco and Truck Stop areas.
The idea to embrace the illegal brick makers with land will see the potential to generate revenue and contribute to the town’s economy.
During a virtual meeting organized by civil society, various stakeholders seemed to side with illegal brick makers.
One of the speaker Lucky Daka from the Greater Hwange Residents said ‘The activity is thriving because there is a ready market for the bricks while the whole town has clay and coal which are the inputs for bricks. Council should just avail land and formalise the activities of these people.”
While, Hwange West MP, Godfrey Dube said “The whole of the constituency benefits from brick moulding as people are building houses. All we need is take stock of who is doing it and bring them on board. We need to regularise them, so they become small and medium enterprises.”
It is also reported that a majority of people making bricks are believed to be former Hwange Colliery and Brick Fields workers who lost their jobs and have been joined by a lot of other residents.
Read more details on New Zimbabwe