Harare plans First Street overhaul, orders removal of illegal billboards

HARARE — The City of Harare will begin removing illegal billboards from First Street as part of a wider plan to modernise the historic thoroughfare, Local Government Minister Daniel Garwe said.

Garwe said architects and landscape architects would be commissioned Monday to develop new designs for First Street, including replacing what he described as old landscaping with modern finishes such as marble or granite tiles.

“We must have digital billboards going into the future in First Street,” Garwe said, adding that existing billboards installed on verandas in violation of city by-laws would be removed.

Garwe toured First Street with Harare Mayor Jacob Mafume and senior government and council officials, on Saturday, to assess plans to restore and improve the street.

He said the First Street project would serve as a starting point for similar upgrades elsewhere in the capital.

“We are starting with First Street, then we go to all the streets,” Garwe said.

The proposed works will also target sanitary lanes, which Garwe said would be fully enclosed with gates, with access restricted to businesses occupying buildings adjoining the lanes.

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