Mutare farmers whose farm produce was destroyed by the police and the city’s health department at the Sakubva vegetable market last week will be compensated.
Unquantified tonnes of vegetables were confiscated from farmers that had converged at the market to sell their produce amid national lockdown.
Manicaland Covid-19 Taskforce chairperson Dr Ellen Gwaradzimba has described the incident as unfortunate and said all the affected farmers would receive part of the $600 million being extended to small businesses, vendors and the elderly by Government to compensate them for loss of income.
“The incident that happened at Sakubva market was unfortunate, especially given that we had come up with modalities on how people could continue to trade, but in an organised fashion under the watch of our forces to ensure adherence to issues of hygiene and social distancing,” she said.
“The fact that they all ran means they were aware that they were violating the conditions of the lockdown. But as a leadership with the people at heart, we understand that people were trying to find a way of survival and that they lost out on hard-earned income.”
So far, only 14 farmers have come forward and submitted their names for compensation.
Minister Gwaradzimba urged all the affected farmers to register with the provincial taskforce.