The MDC Alliance has denounced the current $2 000 illegal transport fine which was recently imposed by the police.
The condemnation comes after the police is currently enforcing a law which was recently imposed by the government which ensures that every commuter who board a private vehicle which is not registered to the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company {ZUPCO} will be liable to pay a fine of $2 000 rtgs.
The government also said if travelers fail to use registered transport under Zupco franchise they will be charged for contravening section 7 (2) as read with 49 (2) of The Road Traffic (Traffic Signs and Signal ) Regulations of 2016,which is, “Failure to obey any instruction or control imposed by any regulatory signs as specified under such signs as specified under such sign in class (1) (a) (i) in the first schedule eg, no hitch hiking, stop sign, be stopping, no overtaking weight prohibition, no parking, no right /left turn, etc.
However, on their twitter handle, the opposition MDC Alliance blames the ruling Zanu PF for failing to provide reliable transportation for commuters.
“The regime’s anti poor behavior must be condemned with the contempt it deserves. The ZUPCO transport system has completely failed to service the public. Now ZANU-PF is punishing commuters for turning to private transport as a solution to their problems,” said MDC Alliance.
ZUPCO is currently the only public transport which is allowed to commute, however the shortage of enough buses to fully ferry commuters to and from work is creating problems which have seen private operators joining the business to try and lessen the transport deficit for commuters.
Moreso, commuters reportedly spend lots of time waiting for ZUPCO buses which is resulting in overcrowding at bus terminuses, however if the deficit persist the situation is likely to worsen the spread of the Covid-19 virus across the country.
Meanwhile, government says it has been purchasing buses from Belarus to address the transport deficit that is being experienced across the country but the demand remains the same as the current fleet is failing to sustain the available commuters.
