The Sunday Mail
The proposed ban of commuter omnibuses from the country’s roads will bring sanity to the national public transport system but rushing the move will have disastrous consequences, analysts have cautioned.
Calls to ban kombis have been gaining momentum in recent years with Government last week making a fresh warning that the interdict would not be rescinded and everything was on course to phase out low-capacity public transport vehicles by 2016.
The Zimbabwe National Transport Policy says high-volume buses operated by a limited number of private players will replace kombis between 2014 and 2016.
The decision followed a series of tragic accidents, congestion in urban centres and gross violation of traffic regulations by kombi crews.
But with less than a year left, observers reckon the 2016 target is no longer feasible and would bring more harm than good in the absence of structural measures to facilitate the transition.
READ MORE: Walk the talk on kombis: Experts
Transport shortages and loss of revenue and employment have been outlined – among others – as the cardinal consequences of a radical approach to the matter.
Experts say authorities should assume a pragmatic approach which appreciates the advantages of including kombis in the public transport system.
“Kombis have been causing chaos everywhere and, indeed, they have to be phased out but that is an exercise you want to approach with cool heads,” said a Harare-based research consultant.
“For the Government to say we are going to achieve this by 2016 is a bit risky because the structures to sustain it are basically absent. You cannot implement such a long-term solution within a year, it just isn’t realistic and if you force it there will be consequences.”
Transport and Infrastructure Development Permanent Secretary Mr Munesu Munodawafa is convinced the exercise will be properly executed as the ministry is devising a master plan to will replace kombis gradually.
“The master plan will identify existing problems within the transport sector and provide solutions to the problems. In the case of public transport system it will look at the feasibility of mass transit system.
“We are saying if a kombi can carry 18 people, why not introduce a bus which will carry 32 or more people? This way we will be decongesting the city by taking out one kombi at a time thus gradually phasing kombis out.”
Kombis were introduced in the early 1990s to complement Zupco which was running urban transport then but facing operational problems.
During those days the population in Harare was barely a million and Zupco was mainly servicing a small group of workers and students since vendors and other informal traders were still few. Today the population in Harare is over two million (according to ZimStat), and both Zupco and National Railways of Zimbabwe are struggling, leaving kombis as the only source of public transport.
Statistics gleaned from omnibus operators also show that over a quarter of the people living in Harare at the moment rely on kombis to commute on daily basis. Experts say it could be difficult for huge buses to service such a population given the fact that they lack the shuttle effect which kombis possess.
“If due attention is not given to this issue definitely the banning of kombis will most likely result in urban transport shortages and other negative aspects which will inconvenience the commuting public,” said Mr Nyasha Mutsindikwa, a lecturer in the Department of Rural and Urban Planning at the University of Zimbabwe.
The general concern is that while buses need to uphold schedules for their operations to be efficient, kombis on the other hand can respond to the demands of a time-conscious urban population without adhering to schedule.
Observers also say new settlements which do not have the infrastructure to support the mass transit system have sprouted and could be disadvantaged with a total kombi ban.
“The existing urban infrastructure in most urban centres is inadequate to sustain a mass transportation system,” said Mr Mutsindikwa.
“This is because of rapid urbanisation. There is need to plan again and invest heavily in urban public transportation infrastructure before the banning of kombis become an issue.”
The conclusion has, therefore, been that the desired mass transit system can only serve a useful purpose if it is complemented by a properly regulated kombi network.
The ban could also have a negative effect on institutions such as Zinara, Police, Council and other key institutions who have been benefiting in terms of licence fees and funds.
It is believed that it would be difficult for these institutions to retain the same revenue from huge buses. The importation of kombis has also been generating significant revenue through import duty. Kombis have become a source of employment and livelihood for many people.
The Greater Harare Association of Commuter Operators says banning kombis would affect many families who have omnibus drivers and conductors as bread-winners.
The rate of unemployment will, therefore, rise significantly as a result.
“At the moment there are over 60 000 omnibuses in Zimbabwe and each employs two people who have about four dependents each. This means more than 500 000 will be affected,” said the association’s secretary, Mr Ngoni Katsvairo.
Drivers and conductors are not the only to be affected as the owners of the kombis themselves will be put out of business. The kombi business had also provided business for spare parts dealers as they are the main market for the dealerships.
Residents are also not confident that council can be able to manage a mass transit system when they are failing to deal decisively with the existing chaos. Harare Residents Trust director Mr Precious Shumba lamented that the move would leave thousands unemployed.
“If the council is failing to control the kombis in the city what gives hope to residents that they be able to control the mass transit systems which require more monitoring?
“For instance, council resorted to the solution of throwing spikes at kombis operating in undesignated areas in the CBD which has risked people’s lives and there are cases of people and police officers who have died due to that decision.
“This decision will live thousands of people jobless and this will either increase the number of street vendors or thieves and it creates another problem as well, all this should be taken into consideration.”
