News / Local
Cowdray Park residents buy own kombis
02 Jun 2014 at 07:42hrs | Views
THE NEWLY formed Cowdray Park Taxis Association (CPTA) on Saturday unveiled its first commuter omnibuses aimed at easing transport woes in the high-density suburb.
CPTA was formed in March this year following an outcry by residents that they were being ill-treated and fleeced by public transporters. Residents were each asked to contribute $60 per head towards the project. The company unveiled two kombis yesterday that are expected to start operating soon.
Cowdray Park councillor Collet Ndlovu said the initiative by residents came as a relief from hassles they endured from commuter transport operators who charged residents willy-nilly.
Ndlovu appealed to the government to help the company grow to enable it to spearhead development in the suburb.
"We will train our drivers and we will not overload and this is the service we want in Zimbabwe," an elated Ndlovu said.
A representative from the Bulawayo Provincial Affairs ministry Fikile Marovachanga urged Zimbabweans to emulate Cowdray Park residents saying it was in line with the country's economic blueprint ZimAsset.
"This is a good development and I wish all constituencies to emulate it. However, we need to tackle the issue of corruption head-on if we want to excel. In Zimbabwe almost everyone is corrupt," Marovachanga said.
"We need transparency and I urge all passengers in kombis to be responsible so that we can curb corruption."
Last year, residents resorted to barring commuter omnibuses from the suburb after they had unilaterally increased fares from R5 to R7 per trip.
They petitioned Ndlovu to intervene and he in turn approached the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company to provide four buses that would ferry residents at a reasonable price, but there was no movement from the equally struggling State-run transport operator.
CPTA was formed in March this year following an outcry by residents that they were being ill-treated and fleeced by public transporters. Residents were each asked to contribute $60 per head towards the project. The company unveiled two kombis yesterday that are expected to start operating soon.
Cowdray Park councillor Collet Ndlovu said the initiative by residents came as a relief from hassles they endured from commuter transport operators who charged residents willy-nilly.
Ndlovu appealed to the government to help the company grow to enable it to spearhead development in the suburb.
"We will train our drivers and we will not overload and this is the service we want in Zimbabwe," an elated Ndlovu said.
"This is a good development and I wish all constituencies to emulate it. However, we need to tackle the issue of corruption head-on if we want to excel. In Zimbabwe almost everyone is corrupt," Marovachanga said.
"We need transparency and I urge all passengers in kombis to be responsible so that we can curb corruption."
Last year, residents resorted to barring commuter omnibuses from the suburb after they had unilaterally increased fares from R5 to R7 per trip.
They petitioned Ndlovu to intervene and he in turn approached the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company to provide four buses that would ferry residents at a reasonable price, but there was no movement from the equally struggling State-run transport operator.
Source - Southern Eye
