Zim transport crisis intensifies
2005-08-27 18:06
Special Report
Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe accused his political rivals of trying to use constitutional reforms to get rid of him, but warned that his Zanu-PF party would reject any changes threatening its future.
A dusty road leads to the village of Wedza, where veterans of Zimbabwe's liberation war eke out a meagre living on their farm cooperative, which after a promising start now brings only despair.
Harare - Zimbabwe's transport crisis fuelled by an acute fuel shortage worsened this week, forcing many people to walk to work or shell out more than they can afford in bus fares, a newspaper said on Saturday.
The independent Daily Mirror said a survey across Harare's poorer suburbs showed that the transport crisis had intensified since Tuesday in working-class suburbs and townships.
The areas include Glen View, Epworth, Mabvuku, Tafara and the sprawling township of Chitungwiza, south of the capital, it said.
For a trip into the city centre "Mabvuku and Chitungwiza commuters were being forced to part with $15 000 a trip instead of the government-gazetted $11 000," it said.
"Stranded workers resorted to walking to and from work," it said.
Tawanda Petros, a resident of Mabvuku township in Harare's poorer eastern section, told the newspaper: "Commuter omnibus operators are taking advantage of the fuel and transport crisis to make a killing."
"We are left with no option except to pay exorbitant fares," he said, adding that the government should find a lasting solution to the shortages as "the transport problem affects productivity".
Zimbabwe, currently reeling under triple-digit inflation, spiralling unemployment and a food crisis is facing what some experts say is its worst fuel crisis ever, which has brought the country almost to its knees.
The majority of privately owned commuter buses have been off the road for weeks because they have been unable to get gas.
State-run buses, which dominate city routes, have been unable to meet demand.
Commuters brave the cold winter weather, some getting up as early as 03:00 to begin standing in queues for the few buses or vans available. Others walk to make it to work on time.
Sekai Mujakachi from the populous south-western Glen View township, said: "It is a problem in the morning getting transport into town and vice versa after work."
John Tendai from Chitungwiza told AFP that the transport crisis had worsened this week, partly due to an ongoing national agricultural show in Harare.
"Everybody wants to go there so this has made the situation worse," he said, adding: "It has been a very bad week for us."
Tendai said it could take him up to three hours to get to work from his home to his workplace in Borrowdale, an upscale northern suburb, after changing buses in the city centre.
"Today for instance, I was coming into town. I waited for a bus for more than one-and-a-half hours until some friends gave me a lift," he said.
- AFP