Forex shortage threatens commuter operators in Byo

THE scarcity of foreign currency in the country is seriously threatening the collapse of the public transport sector in Bulawayo as commuter minibus operators fail to procure spare parts due to the shortage.

Players in the sector told The Zimbabwe Guardian this week that nearly 30 percent of the city’s fleet is grounded due to unavailability of forex to buy spares and the escalating cost of maintaining the vehicles.

Most of the commuter vehicles in the country which were either imported from nearby South Africa or Japan, have since long passed their life span.

“We are now failing to break even in this business. Even if we want to keep afloat, there is no foreign currency to import spares from outside the country,” said James Mpofu, who owns Ribbon commuters in the city.

Mpofu said the situation is also being worsened by the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra)’s high duty charges on imported vehicles and spare parts.

Last year the government raised duty by more than 1 000 percent on virtually all imported items.

The government has also directed Zimra to charge duty in foreign currency on all imported vehicles.

Another commuter operator, Clive Sengu whose business has also been affected by the current shortage of spare pare parts said he is planning to quit the business because of the prohibitive operational costs now associated with running a public transport venture.

“The situation in the public transport sector really needs government intervention. The situation has affected mostly people like us who are using old model vehicles. To make matters worse we are buying all our fuel from the black market which is very expensive,” he said.

Sengu added that the situation has been worsened by bad roads which are damaging their vehicles.

Addressing a stakeholders meeting in August last year, the Chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communication, Leo Mugabe, accused the government of ignoring the public sector and individuals when negotiating business deals with “our friendly countries such as China”.

“I do not see the reason why a cabinet minister negotiating a deal for ZUPCO or NRZ in China, for example, should also fail to negotiate the same deal for individual bus operators. As government, we intend to ignore this sector, yet it plays a pivotal role to our transport system,” said Mugabe.