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Conrad Mupesa

Herald Correspondent

THE new fleet of Zupco buses launched by President Mnangagwa on Friday at Chinhoyi University of Technology (CUT) will go a long way in driving the Vision 2030 agenda, while at the same time protecting passengers from unscrupulous transporters.

In her remarks during the handover of 40 buses to Zupco by President Mnangagwa, Mashonaland West Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Mary Mliswa-Chikoka, said the introduction of the cheaper and accessible transport by the President and Second Republic aimed at protecting the citizens from unscrupulous private operators charging travellers exorbitantly.

She said the interventions by Government and renewal of the Zupco buses augured with the Second Republic’s Vision 2030, which seeks to make the nation an upper middle class economy in 10 years’ time.

“It’s indeed a strategic programme with a perceptive foresight for ease of transport for our urban commuters who have been reeling under heavy transport costs imposed by private transporters characterised by the absence of customer care and exorbitant fares that most people could hardly afford,” said Minister Mliswa-Chikoka.

She described some unscrupulous private transporters as part of the people causing economic instabilities in all sectors of the economy.

“We have economic saboteurs on the prowl, busy throwing spanners in the works,” said Minister Mliswa-Chikoka.

“We are confident that our brave, dedicated and honest leadership will take our country to the pinnacle where we belong.”

Minister Mliswa-Chikoka said the introduction of the new fleet and the additional ones that were still on their way was a timeous intervention to capacitate the public transport system during Covid-19 era.

She assured the President of the province’s readiness to ensure the country achieved economic emancipation for everyone.

“We continue to boast being the nation’s breadbasket,” said Minister Mliswa-Chikoka.

“We are also endowed with a vast array of mineral resources that we are exploiting to ensure that we make a significant contribution in the nation’s quest of reaching the $12 billion milestone that you set for government.”

Councils in the province have welcomed the new fleet of the buses, saying they were going to help bring sanity in urban areas.

“Pirate taxis are ungovernable and they are a menace around towns, but the introduction of Zupco buses and the additional ones that the President has given will improve sanity in the CBD and high density suburbs,” Chinhoyi Municipality’s town clerk, Maxwell Kaitano said.

Karoi’s town secretary, Dr Wellington Mtikani, said apart from bringing sanity to the town, the buses were also going to protect a lot of workers from losing their money through exorbitant transport                                   fares.