GOVERNMENT is considering imposing restrictions on the
importation of ex-Japanese cars as some of them come with serious defects
making the country a dumping ground for old vehicles, the Ministrer of
Transport and Infrastructure Development, Joel Biggie Matiza, has said.
In an interview on the side-lines of the week-long Africa
Transport Policy Programme (SSATP) annual general meeting which ended here on
Friday, Minister Matiza, who was guest speaker at the conference, said while
there is a high appetite for owning cars, citizens should be patient and
embrace Government initiatives to ease transport problems such as the
introduction of Zupco buses on rural and urban routes.
“There is an appetite to own cars which has seen a rise in
importation of ex-Japanese cars. Time has come to legislate and monitor the
number of years for each car before it is imported. There is really a need to
look at the age of each car as most of them are grounded after two months
because people can’t get spare parts,” said Minister Matiza.
He said defective ex-Japanese cars were partly to blame for
road accidents.
“We can’t be a dumping ground for old cars and it’s
something we have to work on with the Ministry of Industry and Commerce who are
hands on on that. We as Transport feel the carnage on the roads is partly
because of these cars because they are very old,” said Minister Matiza.
The Minister said the country now has in excess of 900 000
vehicles.
He implored Zimbabweans to be patient as Government rolls out
Zupco buses to ease transport challenges both in the urban and rural areas. “As
for urban transport nobody can say they are not experiencing joy in terms of
their pockets because of Zupco whose numbers are increasing and are always
packed. It’s a process that we started recently and it has proven that it’s a
model that works and needs some fine tuning and making sure we have more
buses,” said Minister Matiza.
He said the franchising arrangement with kombi operators
was also working, and called for patience as Government is doing wonders
despite illegal sanctions imposed by Western countries.
“People need to be patient when such good well-meaning
projects are being availed by Government. We need to support such projects
which we are doing under very difficult conditions as we are under sanctions
and can’t be compared to those countries that have no sanctions. What we are doing in that tight space is comparable to what
others are doing,” the Minister said.
Minister Matiza said plans are underway for the Central
Mechanical Engineering Department (CMED) to partner some local bus
manufacturers so that coaches can be made locally. Chronicle
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