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MDC Alliance says the continued ZUPCO monopoly on the transport sector shows how the government is fixated with command and control over all sectors of the economy.
President Chamisa made the remarks in an exclusive interview with TechMagTv, where he also described the introduction of the aged commuter trains as a show of desperation by the government.
“They are ramshackle not serviced but you know that’s what desperate people do,” said President Chamisa.
Private-owned buses have been banned from operating in urban routes since March last year in a bid to curtail the spread of COVID-19 and to bring sanity to the public transportation sector.
Under Zimbabwe’s pandemic prevention guidelines, ZUPCO buses and private-owned buses under the ZUPCO franchise are the only mode of transport allowed to ferry passengers in urban areas.
The MDCA President called on the government to engage the private combis operators to find solutions to the transport woes in the country.
“We need modern transport systems, buses that are modern but of course also bring back the combis before you fix issues so our issue has been to say as you have a transitional thing where you consult the committee on investors where you consult transport operators, you must have some kind of dialogue so that the policy shift is anchored on informed consensus building,” President Chamisa added
Since the introduction of the ZUPCO monopoly, passengers have been lamenting over delays suffered at bus termini as the government-run public transporter failed to cope with the demand.
This prompted the government to relaunch commuter train services with dilapidated coaches run by the National Railways of Zimbabwe in partnership with ZUPCO.
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