 |
| Zupco Kombis in Masvingo |
Kimberly Kusauka
Commuter omnibuses
are regarded as a
hotspot for Covid-19
since passengers are often
overloaded in violation
of Covid-19 regulation of
maintaining a distance of one
meter between individuals, it
has been said.
This came out during
a Covid-19 response press
discussion organized by
TellZim and held at Charles
Austin Theatre on May 27.
Masvingo Provincial Covid-19
Taskforce spokesperson
Rogers Irimayi said commuter
omnibuses commonly known
as kombis were possible
hotspots of the virus as
operators were largely defying
government directives on the
loading of passengers.
“Many operators are not
sticking to the passenger limits
prescribed by government and
are overloading. That is not
allowed and it is the duty of us
citizens to report such cases or
to refuse to be packed in those
kombis,” said Irimayi.
He said that it was due to
the fact that Masvingo was a
small city where travelling to
the furthest point could take
10 minutes in average traffic
that there was no many cases
of transmission of the virus in
kombis.
“That is the advantage that
we have a s a city. We don’t
spend a lot of time on the
kombi seats because it may
take only some 10 minutes
before you disembark from the
kombi. It would probably be
a different case if we needed
to travel longer distances and
spend more time squeezing
each other while packed in the
kombis,” said Irimayi.
He said it was also fortunate
that Zupco kombis were getting
fumigated on a daily basis
before they start commuting
so as to curb the spread of
Covid-19 as confirmed by
Irimayi.
“Zupco kombies are fumigated
every day before they start
commuting so as to curb the
spread of Covid-19. That helps
a lot in minimising the risk
of spreading the virus among
commuters on vehicles that
carry people the whole day,”
Irimayi said.
Zupco Masvingo depot
manager Wiseman Zuweni
said all Zupco-affiliated public
utility vehicles were obligated
to sanitize passengers.
“Passengers are sanitized at
the door upon entry. This does
not mean to say our operators
must overload; they must stick
to the loading limits that have
been set by government so
that there is sufficient social
Zupco kombi operators urged to stop overloading
distancing,” said Zuweni.
Masvingo United Residents and
Ratepayers Alliance (Murra)
spokesperson Godfrey Mtimba said
government must enforce loading
limits on Zupco which the government’s
own company.
“Zupco kombis are a cause for
serious concern because they are
doing as they like. There is hardly
any social distancing. It’s now even
more frightening in light of the many
Covid-19 cases that have been recorded
at Bondolfi Teachers’ College,” said
Mtimba.
