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By Calvin Manika
Most of the bus terminuses are not being fully maintained at least countrywide, with some areas without any form of infrastructure.
Passengers Association of Zimbabwe (PAZ) last week visited Mashonaland Central.
In their report on Mukumbura Road Monitoring, Passengers Association of Zimbabwe found out that passengers are traveling and health safety measures are being offered in or at ranks.
“Dotito bus terminus is good but the abulution facility needs attention as it is a ticking time bomb to a healthy hazard. The facility is in deplorable state and one of its squat holes is blocked and is showing signs of maintenance ignorance. There is no touting at Dotito,” noted a report by PAZ.
“In Mt Darwin the rank has no shelter, tar and shades for passengers to seek shelter from the sun and the rain. The abulution facility is paid for. It is also a distance which approximately 100 metres from where the buses stop. There was no water yesterday Saturday and passengers had to help themselves in a nearby thicket.
“Today Sunday as Passengers Association of Zimbabwe showed concern and disprove the locking of the much needed facility due to lack of water, today water was provided in drums. Although it is a pay toilet pegged at 50c or 50 bond the attended accept any sum a person or passengers produce or say they have upto as little as 10 bond,” added PAZ.
The toilets at My Darwin are state of the art infrastructure. People do not have to queue up to get a chance to get into the toilets.
In Bindura, the passengers association observed that, the mining town has a clean bus terminus and the toilets are good. Without touts in the rank passengers board buses freely. The same scenario was observed also in Mvurwi.
Tafadzwa Goriati, PAZ National Coordinator noted some of the positives in the transport sector.
“From a number of buses Passengers Association of Zimbabwe used to make the tour a success covid protocols are being observed. However human was evidenced here and there but the general overview things are impressing out there. Only one bus company allows vendors to get onto the buses to get a dollar or two without putting on masks and being sanitized,” said Goriati.
However, some of the passengers complainer of some buses which do have windows or aeration facilities to suite the hot weather in that area. In areas with fewer buses overloading was singled as the threat to the gains in the implementation of Covid-19 health measures.
“The truth is Mushikashika is there to stay. In rural areas people are in need of transport. The government cannot manage. It’s high time the transport sector should be reformed and private localised operators be given a chance to offer their services to the public.
“Rushinga area is hard hit by this shortage. If one fails to travel in the morning using these convectional buses then they have to wait for the next day or use Mushikashika to Mt Darwin from places as far as Chimhanda, Katakura and Nyabawa among others,”added Goriati.
Meanwhile, PAZ noted that, due to the stiff competition in the market, bus operators are shunning designated loading points. Passengers safety is at risk. PAZ noticed that passengers are boarding private vehicles on highway.
“Motorists are picking passengers at illegal points on highways,” added the report.