Small and medium entrepreneurs operating at Glenview Area 8 in Harare were left counting heavy losses after a devastating inferno gutted their goods and machinery this Sunday morning.
Goods worth thousands of United States dollars were reduced to ashes after a fire broke out at the Glenview Area 8 SMEs Complex this Sunday morning.
When ZBC News arrived at the scene, City of Harare firefighters were still battling to fully extinguish the fire.
The ZRP was also on the ground safeguarding the remaining property from being looted and conducting sound fire rescue operations.
The blaze reportedly started early in the morning, affecting furniture, machinery and other goods in the complex.
“I have lost everything. My machines, timber, and finished furniture are all gone. This is how I feed my family I don’t know where to start,
“I was just starting to recover from the last fire. Now everything is gone again. I invested my last savings in this workshop. I’m heartbroken,
“I had just delivered new material on Saturday. Today, I’m left with ashes. This place is our livelihood, and we need help to rebuild,
“I used to come help my grandchildren here. Now we are all stranded. It’s painful watching our children’s hard work go up in smoke,” said the traders.
SMEs authorities are not ruling out the element of negligence which is causing the recurrence of the fire incidents at the area.
“Preliminary indications point to negligence. What we are calling is order so that we avoid such a loss. It is a huge loss to us as traders,” noted Harare Province for Small to Medium Enterprises for Economic Development chairperson, Mr Gilvas Maungira.
“We are saddened by this tragedy. It’s clear the fire could have been avoided. We urge authorities to take firm action against those whose negligence caused so much loss to our traders. I have been operating here for quite some time and I witnessed a number of people coming here without being registered so they end up doing illegal connections which we suspect that it could be the cause of the fire,” said Glenview Area 8 Stallholders Complex chairperson, Mr Peter Chibema.
ZRP National Spokesperson, Commissioner Paul Nyathi confirmed the incident, saying investigations are underway.
“We can confirm about the fire incident which occurred at Glenview Complex this Sunday morning and the ZRP we are still investigating the matter,” he said.
This is not the first time a fire has broken out here with the worst and devastating incident having been recorded in 2015, which left many traders out of business.
