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By Marlvin Ngiza
With the government’s promise of intervention, residents in some parts of Chikomba District, Mashonaland East Province will bid farewell to transport challenges.
These challenges have been attributed to poor road infrastructure and residents have called upon the government to solve this problem that has been in existence for decades.
The situation is leading to fewer transport players plying routes in the district.
Remote areas facing this problem include Matirige in ward 3 Chikomba Central, Gandami in Chikomba West, Majumba, and Mboe.
Some residents who spoke to Spiked Online Media expressed grief about the situation saying they are faced with exorbitant fares which do not correspond with the distance.
Chikomba Central Ward 3 Councillor Stanford Madzivire pointed out that farmers are in a dire situation since they go through a hustle to transport their produce to the markets such as Grain Marketing Board (GMB).
“To farmers, it’s a very big challenge for them to transport their outputs,” said Madzivire.
Nqobile Gondiso, one of the youths, said that transport challenges are hindering them as youths to embark on self-supporting projects.
“Transport is one factor to consider when setting a project. As youths, we are failing to start our own projects, for example, you might need to venture into horticultural activities but you would find that it’s impossible since there is no transport. Perishables need to reach the market soon after harvesting.
“We call upon responsible authorities to maintain our roads,” said Gondiso.
Brightmore Bunu said the community is also faced with a lack of reliable transport to the nearest towns such as Chivhu and Harare.
“As residents in Wiltshire, we are all affected by transport shortages.
“I can say we don’t have reliable transport from our community to our nearest towns. The prices are higher than expected,” said Bunu.
Contacted for comment, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Felix Mhona said that road maintenance in Chikomba District has already started.
He added that the government is always ready to address challenges faced by residents.
“We are busy working on our roads in Chikomba as a whole.
“We have a listening President HE Cde Dr. ED Mnangagwa and we have no excuse not to listen to what is expected of us by the people of Chikomba and Zimbabwe in general hence we shall work flat out so that we deliver as the “whole of Government “,” said Hon Mhona.
When asked about efforts being made to engage Zimbabwe United Passengers Company (ZUPCO) to ply some routes in these remote areas, Minister Mhona said that they are tirelessly lobbying for ZUPCO to review its 40km radius operation policy from their depots.
“We have ZUPCO in some of the Wards and will continue lobbying so that they revisit their policy of a 40km radius from their depots,” added Hon Mhona.
In Wiltshire, one usually waits for 5 full hours at Matirige bus stop before getting something to ferry them to Harare.
Efforts to get a comment from Chikomba Rural District Council to get an update on how far they have gone with road maintenance in Chikomba were fruitless since the council has not yet replied to the questions we sent them by the time we went for publication.
Residents usually pay $US7-$9 from Wiltshire (Gandami) to Harare- a distance of about 140km and $US7 from Wiltshire farms to Chivhu town a distance of about 80km.
In Wiltshire, there is one private bus that plies the Masasa-Harare route and is only available on Thursdays and Sundays.
From Wiltshire farms to Chivhu town, the route has no bus plying in except a few private players that are usually available on Tuesdays and Fridays.
Residents who use the Wiltshire-Chivhu route usually wake up at 2 o’clock in the morning to catch those few vehicles that ply the route.