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Yeukai Karengezeka Herald Correspondent
Harare City Council has extended its Memorandum of Understanding  (MoU) for a mass transit joint venture with Taxi Services Company (Pvt) Ltd by 90 days to allow for further feasibility studies involving more buses.

According to recent minutes of the Business Committee, the extension follows an inconclusive report that the company submitted after the initial study that was carried out using a Scania bus which plied the City-Mabvuku route in 2015 when the local authority signed the MoU with Taxi Services Company which was valid for 60 days.

The committee noted that the first report was inconclusive since only one bus was used to conduct the study and both parties agreed to conduct another study using 10 buses.

“After considering the technical appraisals, the Department of Works was of the view that they were inconclusive due to the fact that the study was conducted using one bus,” said the committee.

“The department emphasised that for a mass transit proposal, more buses had to be availed to make it conclusive. Pursuantly, the Department of works and Taxi Service Company (Pvt) Ltd agreed to an extension of the Memorandum of Understanding to allow Taxi Services Company (Pvt) Ltd to provide 10 buses for the due diligence study.”

This is the second time that the MoU has been extended after the company failed to carry out the feasibility studies within the 60-day extension granted by council last year after the expiry of the initial agreement in 2015.

According to the minutes, the Environmental Management Committee considered the matter on March 2 last year and resolved to extend the due diligence process by another 60 days.

The extension period lapsed again without Taxi Service Company providing the agreed 10 buses.

Another meeting was held on November 21 last year at Town House where it was agreed that the Department of Works sets terms of reference for the due diligence study which would then be part of the MoU either as an addendum or within the contents of the agreement.