PROPERTY and goods amounting to $19, 5 million were destroyed and looted in Bulawayo during last month\u2019s violent anti-government protests which rocked Harare, Bulawayo and some parts of the country.<\/p>\n
This is contained in a report by the Bulawayo provincial committee on Damaged Property and Stock lost by businesses during the country\u2019s worst demonstrations since the 1998 food riots.<\/p>\n
Committee coordinator Mary Chimwaza said her team has pegged the damages at $19, 5 million.<\/p>\n
She was speaking during an appraisal meeting to the Adhoc Inter-Ministerial Committee on Emergency Relief to Businesses affected by the deadly demonstrations.<\/p>\n
The provincial committee was tasked to assess the impact of the protests to businesses in the country\u2019s second largest city.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe established value of the destroyed property at the time we carried the assessment was $19, 5 million,\u201d Chimwanza told the ministerial committee headed by Finance Minister, Mthuli Ncube.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe received other submissions which will also feed into our final report.\u201d<\/p>\n
Chimwanza said the committee, which was established on 28 January, visited a total 181 affected shops in the city.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn Entumbane, property and goods worth $4 million was destroyed and looted in 45 shops. In Cowdray Park, property worth $2 million in 23 shops was also destroyed and looted,\u201d she said, adding that a lot of business owners also lost documents during the disturbances.<\/p>\n
\u201cAreas of concern raised by most businesses people is that they lost company documents, especially tax documents.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a committee, we also noted that most of the businesses were not insured. Some also lost ingredients that were imported.\u201d<\/p>\n
Speaking during the same meeting, Ncube assured the affected business owners that the government will avail the required amount as a rescue package.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter the disturbances, we set up a ministerial committee which was driven by what lawyers call \u2018the duty of rescue\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have noted a figure of $19, 5 million. It\u2019s not about budget at the end of the day. We think it is something within our means,\u201d said Ncube.<\/p>\n
The minister said the rescue facility will also include vendors whose businesses were affected.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe intend to focus on areas of business infrastructure as well as some elements of restocking.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can imagine what our challenges are going to be. We are going to cater for both registered and informal businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomehow, the informal businesses are more important that the registered. After all, it\u2019s a duty of rescue. Vendors also need to be included somehow,\u201d said Ncube.<\/p>\n
The meeting was also attended by Home Affairs Minister Cain Mathema, Minister of State Affairs for Bulawayo Metropolitan province Judith Ncube, representatives of industry and commerce.<\/p>\n
The inter-ministerial committee also toured some of the affected businesses in the high density suburbs.<\/p>\n
PROPERTY and goods amounting to $19, 5 million were destroyed and looted in Bulawayo during last month\u2019s violent anti-government protests which rocked Harare, Bulawayo and some parts of the country. This is contained in a report by the Bulawayo provincial committee on Damaged Property and Stock lost by businesses during the country\u2019s worst demonstrations since […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":3434,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,7],"tags":[167,68,77,282],"class_list":{"0":"post-3431","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-all-news","8":"category-community","9":"category-files","10":"tag-protesters","11":"tag-protests","12":"tag-robbery","13":"tag-vandalism"},"yoast_head":"\n