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Lawrence Chitumba Review Writer
A year after City of Harare authorities introduced the Coventry holding bay for commuter omnibuses, stretches of Chinhoyi Street remains a no go area for private vehicles. Kombis have practically colonised the section encompassed by Jason Moyo and Robert Mugabe Roads — the area known as Copacabana.

Things are equally chaotic along Albion Street. Add the illegal shuttle service small ex-Jap vehicles as well as registered and unregistered taxis, any driver who values their vehicle would not dare enter such places.

When The Herald Review visited the Coventry Road holding bays on Tuesday morning around 10am, there were a number of kombis moving in an out of the bays. Thus it would appear the system is viable as the most important stakeholder — commuter omnibus crews seem to subscribe to the concept. Which brings the question of why the chaos in the CBD continues unabated.

Most kombi crews said poor administration and corruption by council officials are the reason why the problem is not going away.

“The idea of a holding bay is a noble one however, the problem lies with its administration which makes it lose its essence.

“Council officials here are the ones that are causing problems because of their corrupt tendencies leaving us with no choice but to resort to picking passengers at unlawful picking points which results in congestion.

“What happens here is that when you leave the bay you are given a ticket which you use to enter Copacabana rank. But council officials here sell three or four tickets to kombi drivers so that after offloading passengers they don’t go to the bay to get a ticket but just proceed to enter the terminus many times while we wait for three to four hours at the bay,” said a commuter omnibus driver who requested anonymity.

He said at the end of the day fully compliant crews can only make three trips per day thus everyone ends up paying the corrupt municipal officials at one point or the other.

Another driver said that there is selective treatment of kombis depending on ownership.

“Those kombis using unlawful picking and dropping points belong to the big bosses (council and police officers) so even if they break the rules they will not be punished that’s why you always see them there,” he added.

Another kombi driver Nyasha Makanjera however, claimed that council had moved in to curb corruption and that operations were now more transparent.

“We used to have problems with corrupt council officials but the problems have since been resolved and everything is now OK.

“However, the burning of fuel to and from the bay with no passengers is not profitable for the business and we urge the responsible authorities to look into that,” he said.

He however, remained a minority as all others interviewed by this writer squarely blamed corrupt council officials.

“Mushikashika (illicit pick up points) is causing problems for those that use this holding bay, if every kombi were to use this bay everything will be fine however, council must make sure that everyone who is supposed to use it complies, otherwise we don’t have a problem with the idea of holding bays,” said Panganayi Tomu a kombi driver.

Harare City Council chief spokesperson, Michael Chideme said council was going to investigate the alleged corrupt practices at the holding bay as this practice derailed their efforts to de-congest the central business district.

Incidents of municipal police and Zimbabwe Republic Police officers becoming involved in sometimes fatal vehicle chases with deviant commuter omnibus drivers have drawn mixed reactions from the public. Some people blame the authorities for risking human life while others blame the kombi crews for failing to comply with laws.

The City of Harare moved commuter omnibuses plying the south-western suburbs-city routes to Coventry holding bays last year as the city stepped up efforts to de-congest the central business district (CBD). The same applies to kombis using the north–western routes.

The holding bay is not a terminus and passengers are not allowed to board buses there. Pick up and drop off points remain at the designated termini in the CBD.

If operated efficiently, the system would ensure that only a kombis that can be accommodated in the terminus would be there at any given time as the vehicles would be called in to the terminus as and when space has been created by departing buses.

Meanwhile, the City Council in their efforts to enforce the de-congestion of the CBD is set to amend the Harare (Omnibus) (Amendment) by laws, 270 of 1997, introducing provisions which will see the city punishing operators who pick passengers at undesignated places.

Harare (Omnibus) Amendment by-laws 2015 will also outlaw touting for passengers as well as bringing in inflammable substances into omnibus unless they are secure enough in a container among other additions according to minutes of the Environmental Management Committee.

Acting town clerk Mrs Josephine Ncube said the legal division was in the process of updating several council by-laws to put them in line with current global trends.

“The first problem, inter alia with the 1977 by-laws defined omnibus as a motor vehicle carrying seven passengers, yet the modern trend was that an omnibus should carry at least 21 passengers.

“The most problematic area was that of penalties. The by-laws created a chain of offences, yet there were no provisions on penalties making enforcement virtually impossible. The new amendments, therefore, sought to remedy this anomaly by devoting whole section of offences and penalties,” read part of the minutes.