COMMENT: How does the mayor sleep at night?

The Chronicle

Will order ever return to Bulawayo? Will the City of Kings and Queens ever be clean again? Will the law ever mean anything?
We have tried to get city fathers and the police to act on illegal pick up and drop off points created by unruly transport operators but to no avail.

Some of these daring bus operators have turned the Centenary Park into a bus rank. How does the mayor sleep at night? A whole park has been turned into an illegal rank.

Yesterday, we reported that cross-border buses, which have turned a parking space along Fife Street in the city centre into an illegal pick up and drop off point, have attracted illegal vending activities and touting resulting in congestion and chaotic scenes.

The buses park between Leopold Takawira Avenue and 6th Avenue, opposite Bulawayo Central Police Station and have created congestion, making it difficult for pedestrians to walk on the pavements as the area now resembles a bus terminus.

The illegal parking of buses has attracted touts, vendors and pushcart operators.

The area opposite Central Police Station has become an eyesore as vendors and touts are littering the place.

Pirate taxis picking passenger in undesignated points 

Delays by a contractor engaged by Bulawayo City Council to redevelop Egodini Mall and Taxi Rank have made the traffic situation a living nightmare.

The entire city has become one big terminus or rank.

Council has failed to maintain order or at least to make money from transport operators. All busses in the city should pay.

Those that refuse to pay or flout regulations should be banned.

It’s that simple, council can do better.

How is it that law abiding motorists are paying for parking yet commercial vehicles are operating for free?

Vendors must also pay. They are in business and must stop being treated with kids’ gloves.

Taxis, minibuses, the whole lot. Everyone must pay! Motorists are already paying.

Council must make full use of Tendy Three Investments (TTI), a local smart parking company which was awarded the city of Bulawayo’s vehicle parking management tender.

TTI must concentrate more on commercial vehicles, and generate much needed revenue for council.
It is indeed sad that our report on cross-border buses turning parking space into illegal pick up and drop off points came a day after the exciting news that more international airlines are expected to start servicing the country next year.

Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo International Airport which was upgraded to international standards, and can now handle 1,2 million passengers annually, is set to benefit from this renewed international interest in Zimbabwe.

Already, some airlines flying into Zimbabwe have started expanding their operations through using larger aircraft or increasing frequency of services, with Ethiopian Airlines recently adding Bulawayo to its destination list after Victoria Falls and Harare.
But unfortunately, tourists do not want to come to a dirty, lawless city. Tourists do not want to see a recreational park that has been turned into a bus rank.

The current lawlessness in the city, if unchecked, can cost Bulawayo tourists and investors.
The mayor and his team must wake up and smell the filth in the city.

Article Source: The Chronicle

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