News / Local
Ban on unregistered kombis reversed
04 Apr 2015 at 07:47hrs | Views
THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has reversed its decision to ban commuter omnibuses that are not registered with either the Bulawayo Public Transport Association (Bupta) or Tshova Mubaiwa.
The local authority had issued an ultimatum recently stating that unregistered kombis would not be allowed on the city's roads with effect from yesterday if they did not belong to either of the two.
The decision was part of the city's public transport policy, which sought among other things to stop individual ownership of kombis. It was fiercely resisted by commuter omnibus owners.
According to the latest council report, the local authority has invited new players to the transport industry.
The move is in line with the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Obert Mpofu's announcement that transporters should not be forced to join professional organisations.
Acting Town Clerk, Sikhangele Zhou said: "The segmentation of and allocation of route operators as suggested would not be the best from a practical point of view as it could render the whole system unworkable. The policy should be flexible enough to allow entry of other players."
Last week, council was at loggerheads with some transporters who were resisting the order to be part of a company.
The kombi operators accused the local authority of causing them to pay high affiliation fees of up to $50 per vehicle by forcing them to join either Tshova Mubaiwa or Bupta.
Bulawayo Mayor Martin Moyo last month threatened commuter omnibus operators saying they risked losing their route permits if they were not registered with Bupta or Tshova Mubaiwa.
The local authority resolved that: "The Bulawayo Public Transport Policy as submitted be adopted on the understanding that it would be open to all legitimate and competent players on 'as and required' basis," reads part of the report.
Last week, BCC senior public relations officer Nesisa Mpofu defended the public transport policy saying people who were against the policy did not want to operate in a safe and controlled manner.
"The City of Bulawayo would like to highlight that the transport policy was crafted with concern for the citizens of Bulawayo who use public transport on a daily basis.
Public transport must be carefully analysed and understood in context since it permeates all facets of society whether at regional level, local level or national level," said Mpofu.
"For many years the City of Bulawayo like the rest of the country has had a chaotic and unsafe public transport system.
"We must be careful about utterances from people who don't want to operate in a safe and controlled manner. It is also noted that under the new dispensation drivers of commuter omnibuses will now fall directly under the two companies for accountability purposes," she said.
The Bulawayo Public Transport Policy was formulated in 2011 with input from the police, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, Vehicle Inspection Department (VID), civic organisations in the city, public transporters, media houses and the Environmental Management Agency (EMA).
The local authority had issued an ultimatum recently stating that unregistered kombis would not be allowed on the city's roads with effect from yesterday if they did not belong to either of the two.
The decision was part of the city's public transport policy, which sought among other things to stop individual ownership of kombis. It was fiercely resisted by commuter omnibus owners.
According to the latest council report, the local authority has invited new players to the transport industry.
The move is in line with the Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Obert Mpofu's announcement that transporters should not be forced to join professional organisations.
Acting Town Clerk, Sikhangele Zhou said: "The segmentation of and allocation of route operators as suggested would not be the best from a practical point of view as it could render the whole system unworkable. The policy should be flexible enough to allow entry of other players."
Last week, council was at loggerheads with some transporters who were resisting the order to be part of a company.
The kombi operators accused the local authority of causing them to pay high affiliation fees of up to $50 per vehicle by forcing them to join either Tshova Mubaiwa or Bupta.
The local authority resolved that: "The Bulawayo Public Transport Policy as submitted be adopted on the understanding that it would be open to all legitimate and competent players on 'as and required' basis," reads part of the report.
Last week, BCC senior public relations officer Nesisa Mpofu defended the public transport policy saying people who were against the policy did not want to operate in a safe and controlled manner.
"The City of Bulawayo would like to highlight that the transport policy was crafted with concern for the citizens of Bulawayo who use public transport on a daily basis.
Public transport must be carefully analysed and understood in context since it permeates all facets of society whether at regional level, local level or national level," said Mpofu.
"For many years the City of Bulawayo like the rest of the country has had a chaotic and unsafe public transport system.
"We must be careful about utterances from people who don't want to operate in a safe and controlled manner. It is also noted that under the new dispensation drivers of commuter omnibuses will now fall directly under the two companies for accountability purposes," she said.
The Bulawayo Public Transport Policy was formulated in 2011 with input from the police, Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe, Vehicle Inspection Department (VID), civic organisations in the city, public transporters, media houses and the Environmental Management Agency (EMA).
Source - chronicle
