Fire leaves more than 500 sellers in Cacuaco, Angola without livelihoods
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on Expansão
A fire at Kikolo market in the Angolan municipality of Cacuaco has deprived more than 500 sellers of their stalls and income. Three weeks after the blaze, traders are struggling to resume business despite a promise of financial assistance from the authorities, Expansão reports.
Three weeks after a fire destroyed hundreds of stalls at Kikolo market in the municipality of Cacuaco, more than 500 sellers of timber, doors and other building materials are struggling to resume business, the Angolan newspaper Expansão reports. The disaster has left hundreds of families in a vulnerable economic situation.
Maria Eduardo, a seller who lives in Viana, says she lost an investment worth 12 million kwanzas after several years of work. She now resells goods supplied by traders, but earns only 2,000 to 3,000 kwanzas a day, with her income reduced by the cost of four daily taxi journeys to Kikolo, according to Expansão.
The management of Kikolo market says Cacuaco municipal authorities registered the affected sellers and promised financial assistance to help them resume their activities. However, the traders had still received no official response at the time of the report, according to a source from the market management quoted by Expansão.
