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Innocent Ruwende Municipal Reporter
Dreams of thousands of informal traders and their families were shattered yesterday after their property worth millions of dollars went up in smoke at the Glen View Home Industry Complex along Willowvale Road in Harare. The traders were left counting their losses after many of them had secured loans to finance their businesses hoping to pay back after making sales.

Some of the traders had received down payments for goods that were consumed by the fire.

When The Herald visited the complex, most of the traders were despondent.

Some said they were considering relocating to rural areas since their only source of income had been destroyed.

Others were desperate to salvage something from shells of compressors to pieces of cloth and remains of other wares.

Said Mr Oswell Godzi: “I do not know where to start. This was my only source of income. We don’t know what caused the fire, but we suspect someone did.

“There are many versions as to the cause of the fire. The bottom line is that I have lost my only source of income and I do not know what I am going to do about it.”

Ms Nancy Mosira said she lost several sets of kitchen units, among other property.

“This is a huge loss,” she said.

“All my property got burnt in the fire, I don’t know where I can get funding to start again. Some of the goods destroyed were partly paid for and right now I don’t know where I will get the money to reimburse the customers.

“This is not the first time a fire has deprived us of our source of income. The last time we got help from several donors, but the resources were not channelled to us. We don’t know who got the money.”

Mr Tongoona Panganai said the fire gutted his sewing machines, wardrobes and other wares.

“I lost wares worth more than $3 000 and I have recovered nothing, even the aluminium sheets covering my shop were destroyed,” he said.

“We don’t know where to start from because most of us get raw materials on credit and we pay back when our wares are bought.”

Mr Panganai said he was looking up to the Government to intervene and help them start afresh.