Finance minister Mthuli Ncube yesterday revealed that
government was coughing about $13 million every month to subsidise the
country’s public transport system through Zupco buses.
“Again, we have the Zupco programme in terms of mass urban
transport system, a subsidy that is costing us $13 million per month,” Ncube
said.
He was speaking at a post-mid-term budget review meeting
hosted by Alpha Media Holdings in conjunction with Zimbabwe Economics Society
in Harare yesterday.
“We are committed to subsidise the transport so that the
vulnerable can get transport. Of course, we are now figuring out how to
accelerate the expansion into rural expansion. When government does this kind
of reform, it’s good that you provide social protection.”
Government reintroduced the Zupco buses that charges nominal
fares for urban transport to cushion the commuting public from skyrocketing
commuter fares mainly triggered by fuel price hikes.
But the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) said
government subsidies were crippling the economy and pushing the country deep in
debt which will be paid by taxpayers and poor civil servants.
ZCTU president Peter Mutasa said workers had no reason to
celebrate the transport subsidies by government because it will come back to
haunt them.
“Workers do not need subsidies for transport, they need to
get salaries that will cater for their needs, this idea of cushioning workers
on transport so that they report for work while you are not giving them
salaries that meet their needs is deceptive and it’s a neo-liberal approach,”
Mutasa said.
Government has been bleeding close to $300 million every
month subsidising fuel procurement, more is being lost on Zupco buses which
continue to charge 50 cents per trip despite fuel now selling at $9 a litre and
spare parts and service costs shooting through the roof.
Private players are now charging close to $5 equivalent to
US0,50 a trip within the urban areas which many cannot afford owing to poor
salaries.
Economist Godfrey Kanyenze, who is part of the ZCTU, said
there was need for a holistic approach in solving the economic crisis facing
Zimbabwe through the Tripartite Negotiating Forum (TNF) instead of piecemeal
approaches.
“What we need to do is to think in terms of economy wise,
instead of sector wise, now we are talking about energy, if we liberalise
energy, if we liberalise water, if we liberalise fuel procurement and God knows
what else, are we also looking at the cumulative effect of this because these
are things that are happening in a highly volatile environment, where inflation
has jumped from 98% in May to 176% in June and part of the challenge of
government is to rein in inflation, which is actually the opposite of what we
are talking about. We are looking at it through the TNF, through a much broader
approach,” he said, adding there was need to balance pricing and salaries to
ensure that one does not suffer at the expense of the other. Newsday
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