Police are intensifying enforcement of Covid-19 lockdown
regulations countrywide as local infections continue to spike, stressing the
need for those who neither work in essential nor exempted services to restrict
movement to buying food, getting water and medical reasons.
Police are also ensuring that those outside essential
services obey the 6pm-6am curfew, and that those in non-essential, but exempted
businesses limit working hours to 8am to 3pm, giving staff time to get home
before the curfew.
Under the regulations, a wide swathe of services and
businesses have been designated as essential or as exempted, allowing their
staff to travel to and from work.
Essential services can operate during curfew hours and
outside the 8am to 3pm operating times; these include security services, media,
health services, food processing and distribution, and for the purposes of the
curfew and working hour regulations, the mining sector and tobacco auction
floors.
Almost all industrial and commercial concerns in the formal
sector, but outside the essential services have now been exempted from the
total lockdown and can operate between 8am and 3pm.
To this group have been added, for the purposes of the
curfew and the operating times, bits of the essential sector, such as the
retail end of the food sector, restaurants, take-aways, banks and even the
courts.
Those in exempted and essential services usually have to
produce letters at police check points stating that they are permitted to work
or open their businesses during the lockdown. While this is not a legal
requirement the police normally pass holders of such letters they consider
genuine through checkpoints quite quickly.
This was seen yesterday at Harare road blocks with hundreds
of motorists being turned back home after failing to satisfy the police that
they were in the exempted or essential groups and could go into the city
centre.
Most of the roads leading into the city centre from suburbs
and satellite towns were heavily congested in the morning and it took in some
cases up to two hours to get into town for people coming from as far as
Chitungwiza.
At roadblocks, people with suspicious exemption letters
were turned back with some being strongly warned to stay at home.
Police are also patrolling possible by-pass routes. At
roadblocks those in public transport, the Zupco buses, often are required to
disembark and satisfy the police officer checking them as they re-board that
they are in the essential or exempted groups. Generally a genuine employer’s
letter allows swift re-boarding.
But there are other reasons for travel. One passenger from
a Zupco bus who was denied entry into Harare city centre from Chitungwiza could
not hide his anger to the police.
“I wanted to buy groceries in downtown where prices are
cheaper compared to some shops in Chitungwiza. Yes, I do not have an exemption
letter, but what I wanted to do in town is also essential.”
Another passenger, urged the authorities to allow Zupco
personnel not to ferry passengers who do not possess any exemption letter.
“My suggestion is that authorities should make sure that
upon boarding a Zupco bus, one should produce an exemption letter, this will
serve us all time at police checkpoints.”
There was notable decrease in both vehicular and pedestrian
volume in the CBD for the better part of the day. By 3pm, all of the shops in
city centre and suburban centres had closed, in line with the regulations that
now declare all shops, except pharmacies, must close at 3pm regardless of
whether they are in an essential or exempted sector.
However, long queues could be seen in city terminuses as
workers released soon after the closing times still have to wait for Zupco
buses to ferry them home.
In Midlands province, majority of businesses in Gweru and
Kwekwe yesterday closed shop earlier, saying they feared there could be illegal
protests today. Security check points
into Gweru and Kwekwe city centres were also tight with motorists being turned
away.
In Mutare, the usual roadblocks were supplemented by police
mobile patrols around the city centre.
At around 3pm mobile police patrols were rounding up those
who were still roaming around town, especially those without exemption letters.
By 5pm, the city centre was deserted with only a few vehicles and individuals
seen moving swiftly as they made their way out of the city centre.
In Marondera, it was the same as slow movement of traffic
as people were checked. There was heavy presence of security personnel at all
Government buildings, banks and supermarkets. In high density suburbs soldiers
made some routine check ups.
In Chinhoyi, the same rules were followed, but mobile
patrols were checking on adherence to regulations and arresting those not
wearing masks. Mashonaland West provincial police spokesperson, Assistant
Inspector Ian Kohwera said police had arrested a number of lockdown regulations
violators.
In Bindura, Mashonaland Central Province, security services
mounted roadblocks on all roads leading into town and those not exempted to
offer essential services were told to go back home. Herald
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