By Decide Nhendo
Despite continuous promises to act, Masvingo City Council is yet to upgrade Mucheke Rank which has been abandoned by long distance transport operators who now use undesignated points in the Central Business District, with prospects of going back remaining a pipe dream.
Masvingo City Mayor Cllr Alec Tabe has however said council was going to upgrade the terminus to the best standards.
He said the terminus was going to be transformed into a state of art rank to benefit local businesses and vendors around the terminus to have more customers as travelers will buy from them.
“Masvingo City Council is determined to upgrade Mucheke bus terminus into a state of the art rank. We want it to be of standard level.
“The terminus was benefiting people when it used to run properly, so we want to revive and upgrade it so that those who stay in Mucheke and other local business benefit,” said Tabe.
He said prospective companies and organizations were welcome to partner with council to refurbish the rank, urging big businesses to consider having branches near the terminus to attract people since travelers shun the rank because there is a scarcity of variety of services they can easily get in town.
“To make Mucheke bus terminus function again we no longer want to force people, but we want to establish structures like supermarkets at the place so that they will be no need for people to go to town, but get services they want there and get in their buses and go.
“So all those willing to partner us in the upgrade of Mucheke bus terminus including private players must come in with their help so that we can make it function again,” said Tabe.
In 2022 Mucheke Bus Terminus was cited in the city council budget consultation report under investment promotion, where council was looking for business partnership opportunities.
The bus terminus was a potential revenue cashcow for the cash strapped city council, as it has been lying idle for years without any meaningful efforts to refurbish.
Masvingo City Council then made a resolution in 2022 to make buses stop operating from the CBD and move to Mucheke Rank saying they had intentions to upgrade the bus terminus on a build-operate-transfer (BOT) concept they had reportedly copied from Gweru City Council, but the action was fruitless.
Council has also on a number of occasions passed resolutions aimed at driving out public operators from the CBD but failed.
The pick-up points in town cause disorder in the CBD as many of them do not have ablution facilities or running water, forcing travelers to use alleys and sanitary lanes to relieve themselves.
The pick-and-drop points also deny council access to the much-needed revenue they would potentially realize from rank charges in an organized setup.
The refurbishment of Mucheke bus terminus will also likely create employment for local residents and informal traders.
