THE City of Kwekwe yesterday experienced massive traffic congestion after police moved in to ban inter- and intra-city movement of vehicles on the Harare-Bulawayo Highway, which is one of the busiest roads in the country, in order to curb the spread of COVID-19.
The Midlands city is currently on total lockdown after the
Indian strain of the coronavirus was detected last month, as well as an
increase in the number of infections.
A snap survey by Southern Eye revealed that motorists
travelling to through the city either to Kadoma or Gweru were being turned
away.
Some of them ended up using the Gweru-Mvuma Highway, which
connects through the Harare-Masvingo Highway.
Officer commanding Kwekwe district, Chief Superintendent
Denford Maingire told journalists on Tuesday that following a meeting with the
Midlands Provincial Affairs minister Larry Mavima, it was agreed that there was
need to employ strict measures in the movement of people into the city.
“We agreed on the need to be stringent and stricter in
ensuring the implementation and enforcement of COVID-19 regulations considering
that cases are on the rise,” Maingire said.
“We are restricting movement of vehicles that are coming
into the city or leaving. There is need for people to stop unnecessary
movement, particularly in this hot zone.”
He said only essential service vehicles were allowed to
leave or pass through the city. Maingire blamed motorists for failing to give
tangible reasons why they were passing through the city.
Meanwhile, it was business as usual yesterday in Gweru with
people seemingly confused over government’s directive to produce exemption
letters for those travelling into town.
Government on Tuesday re-introduced exemption letters for
people to be allowed to get into the central business district.
Several residents in the Midlands capital yesterday blamed
government for “adopting a knee-jerk approach” when announcing COVID-19
measures. Newsday
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