MINISTRY of Local Government and Rural Development Permanent Secretary for Technical Services Nicholas Phiri has insisted that there are empty trading spaces in markets, arguing that street vendors saying otherwise, are only issuing excuses. And Phiri says government will, eventually, have to enforce the law on street vending to safeguard the interest of the public. Some vendors recently lamented that there were no empty spaces in markets which had forced them to trade on the streets. But in an interview, Phiri described the claims as false saying vendors have been giving such excuses for a long time now. “These excuses have been there as long as we can remember. But let’s go a little back into the history and realise...