The Sunday Mail
The Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) expects to take delivery of a new fleet of buses next week as Government moves to establish an affordable and efficient public transportation system in the country, an official said on Monday.
Acting chief executive officer, Mr Everisto Madangwa, told New Ziana that a fleet of new buses would be arriving in the country next week.
“By next week they will have arrived,” he said.
Zupco has been finalising processing of paperwork for delivery of 115 new buses, which was delayed by the Christmas and New Year holidays, as some offices were closed.
Since it came into office, the Second Republic has been moving to address transport challenges that citizens had been experiencing over the years, as well as restoring sanity in the sector, which had long been privatised.
Under the initiative, Government has been procuring buses for Zupco, which have been coming in batches, and distributing them to both urban and rural areas.
In early December last year, President Mnangagwa commissioned another batch of 90 Zupco buses, bringing the fleet to 789 from the 77, which the company had remained with by 2018.
Zupco had been aiming to meet a target of 1 500 buses by the end of last year.
Speaking during the launch, President Mnangagwa promised to import 1 000 more buses and to continue supporting Zupco, which had almost become defunct owing to years of mismanagement.
Government initially banned private commuter omnibuses in March 2020, as part of measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, but later outlawed them for good, ordering owners who still wanted to remain in operation to register with Zupco.
While initially some operators resisted the move, many have since heeded the directive and joined Zupco, bringing much needed sanity to the sector, as well as safety to passengers as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to rage on.
Meanwhile, as it is building its bus fleet with regular deliveries, Zupco is working on establishing a train service in conjunction with the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ).
The two parastatals entered into a partnership in September last year to provide commuter trains with the services having since been launched in Harare and Bulawayo. – New Ziana
