An article by Shekina Sehenu and Tadiwanashe Mugabe.
The City of Mutare is fulfilling its purpose of providing services to its all stakeholders by approving the shifting of the vegetable market from the Chikanga sports club to the Mwamuka area and recreating sports facilities for citizens especially for youths to avoid drug and substance abuse as well as criminal activities.
In addition, the youths and the Sakubva residents are happy about the removal of vendors from the Chikanga sports club since this action will give them access to reuse the sports club and will make the market close to Sakubva residents and this is an action to applaud because vendors will use a place where other citizens will not be prevented from doing their own, however, other Mutare citizens from areas like Hobhouse, Zimta, Chikanga, Dangamvura are not in favor of this new location since its not central.
In conducting our research, we used several methods that includes a field survey, interviews with the affected citizens, and one City of Mutare Employee who was on site. We also made some observations. During our research, we observed one special aspect the City of Mutare is ignoring and that is the Environment. In the face of climate change, it is our responsibility to do everything we can so that we reduce the climate change effect. This means that we need to protect the environment and all ecosystems. From an environmental perspective we can argue that the authorities, that is the City of Mutare are not doing enough justice in trying to minimize the issue of climate change. The authorities are responsible for making sure that we abide by the laws thus reducing deforestation and less polluting to fulfill Sustainable Development goal number 13 (Climate Action). The Mwamuka Vegetable Market is also temporary”, said one city of Mutare worker.
This means that more deforestation will occur, and more habitats for animals will be destroyed hence the destruction of ecosystems. Environmental aspects of the Mwamuka area should be taken into consideration by the city of Mutare as section 73 of the constitution encourages the promotion of environmental rights which imply the prevention of pollution, ecological degradation, and other environmental issues. However, the project of market establishment in Mwamuka is causing ecological disturbances including loss of habitat and deforestation because some trees are cut off and the land is being cleared which force species such as birds, snakes, insects, and more to lose their native habitats. Furthermore, the environment is not the only factor that needs to be conserved and preserved but the interaction between organisms and their environment should be also an important concern. Because the dam that existed before on the Mwamuka site as the result of granites stones removal and which was then filled up with soil is not promising any environmental safety for the vendors because the land is still wet and vulnerable to erosion, especially in heavy rainy seasons and this is a danger to the vendors and the community.
The continuous shifting of markets by the authorities leads to massive deforestation which causes results in climate change. It also strains the economic budget since there has to be a constant clearing of land, and new vegetable market tables to be made and this is a bit costly. A waste of resources is also influenced and this means there is no responsible consumption and production (SDG # 12). Furthermore, there are also going to be social conflicts that are between the authorities and the citizens because most citizens are not in favor of the proposed market.
Moreover the environment is such a significant aspect that requires full attention because it ensures the success of the project being implemented. Therefore, the above ecological disturbances must be addressed to create a suitable environment for all and because there will be food waste generated from the Mwamuka vegetable market it is then crucial to have a well-designed waste management plan to keep our environment clean.
The City of Mutare should involve its citizens in decision-making and reduce the gap between the citizens and the authorities and they should look for a permanent location to minimise the unwise use of resources as well as maintain a well-balanced ecosystem