Staff Reporter

His Excellency the President and ZANU PF First Secretary Cde E. D Mnangagwa yesterday Commissioned 115 ZUPCO buses where he said Government is making effort of providing efficient, safe, reliable and affordable transport across the country.

The event marked the 8th commissioning ceremony of buses following the launch of the programme on 21 January 2019.

President Mnangagwa is fulfilling one of the 2018 ZANU PF manifesto promises of prioritising transport and communication by facilitating socio-economic development.

President Mnangagwa went on to say that the buses are expected to reach every corner of the country _leaving no one and no place behind_.

“This is part of my Government’s efforts to provide the travelling public with efficient, safe reliable and affordable transport in both urban and rural areas as espoused in the NDS1. The 115 buses, which I am commissioning today, will undoubtedly improve the availability of public passenger transport services.

“As we continue to re-build the ZUPCO fleet, we expect bus services to reach each and every corner of the country, with no one and no place being left behind. ZUPCO should, therefore, operate at the highest level of efficiency in line with our vision of modern, highly integrated multi-modal transport system, which can play a key role in the development of our economic and social sectors. Given that we have now transitioned from stabilisation to growth, the workforce should not spend valuable productive time waiting for transport,” President Mnangagwa.

His Excellency went on to urge ZUPCO to start working on fleet management practices for commuters not to wait in queues for long.

“Finally I urge ZUPCO to implement contemporary fleet management practices, including time tabling and ensuring that their bus service areas where they are needed most, so that the commuting public do not spend unnecessary time waiting in queues. I also task the ZUPCO Management Committee to ensure that adequate measures are put in place to mitigate the plague of incidents such as retraining of staff, as well as properly service and maintain their fleet of buses. ZUPCO must be a beacon of service excellence,” His Excellency President Mnangagwa said.