By ANDREW PHIRI-
ILLEGAL liquor trading is among the public nuisance that has rocked Livingstone after the hosting of the 20th Session of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly in August last year.
The Livingstone City Council has since vowed to clamp down on all shebeens, or illegal backyard drinking places, that have mushroomed in the tourist capital.
Town Clerk Vivian Chikoti said the local authority was preoccupied with preparations for the UNWTO conference last year and would now concentrate on curbing all illegal activities in the city.
She said this during a full council meeting at the civic centre on Monday when councillors demanded to know what management was doing to curb some illicit activities that had taken root in the tourist capital after the UNWTO meeting.
“The UNWTO conference is over and we now want to curb all sorts of public nuisance in the city. We are going to clamp down on all illegal activities which include the shebeens and fuel vending,” Ms Chikoti said.
Dambwa Central Ward Councillor Liswani Likando urged the council management to curb the mushrooming shebeens and illegal fuel vending in the tourist capital.
“We are seeing these shebeens spreading all over, especially in my ward, after the UNWTO conference held in August last year.
“There is a lot of noise pollution in the compounds and there is also a lot fuel vending. What is management doing about these issues?” Mr Likando asked.
Zambezi Ward councillor Phillimon Musonda said there was need for the council to approach offenders with caution and provide alternative trading places because that was their source of income.
Mr Musonda said in as much as the activities were illegal, it was important for the council to understand that there was high unemployment in the country and people needed to eat and send their children to schools.
He said as councillors, they should focus more on the poor people they served in communities.