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The police have barred kombi drivers from passing through the city centre in a bid to reduce congestion and accidents.
The exercise is part of an ongoing operation, code-named “100 percent decongest the city”, which is also aimed at eliminating illegal pick-up points in the central business district.
Yesterday morning and afternoon police officers maintained a heavy presence at intersections of some roads normally used by commuter omnibuses, ready to arrest errant kombi and pirate taxi operators.
A Chronicle news crew observed that popular illegal pick-up points that are usually a hive of activity such as 6th Avenue Extension, Hebert Chitepo Street, 11th Avenue and Leopold Takawira Street around Large City Hall had been cleared.
However, some defiant commuter omnibus drivers, with the assistance of touts, dodged the police officers keeping an eagle’s eye on the situation and surreptitiously called passengers to follow them to secluded places where they boarded the vehicles before the drivers sped off.
Others changed from their normal routes and could be seen dropping off passengers in the city centre where there were no police officers.
Later in the day when police officers had dismissed, the commuter omnibus crews returned to their usual illegal pick-up points.
In separate interviews, kombi drivers and operators said the police were fighting a losing battle.
They protested against the smashing of windscreens of their vehicles by police officers when they refused to heed an instruction to stop, saying such behaviour was illegal.
“Where in the world have you seen police officers destroying property? Their duty is to protect property and arrest criminals.
This is terrible and the Government should stop it,” fumed one transport operator who refused to be named.
A kombi driver, who plies the Nketa route said police were being overzealous.
“They will not go anywhere with this operation. They behave this way always but we know it will not last long. This is our industry and we are trying to make money like them,” said the driver.
Others said they had no option but to use illegal pick-up points in order to meet their employers’ targets.
The Officer Commanding of Traffic in Bulawayo, Superintendent Henry Mhlanga, could not be reached on his mobile for comment yesterday.
However, a senior traffic officer who declined to be named said they were yet to compile a report on the effectiveness of the operation.
He said the operation was done in conjunction with the municipal police and was meant to bring sanity to the city’s roads.
“We are yet to meet with our counterparts from the city council and make a report on the progress of the operation,” said the police officer.
On Tuesday, police impounded 43 commuter omnibuses and 22 pirate taxis.
The exercise is running concurrently with the ongoing Bulawayo City Council operation of clamping and towing away vehicles at roadblocks to compel motorists to pay for about 20 000 outstanding traffic offence tickets worth more than $100 000, in the city.
Police officers and council security guards have been deployed at roadblocks along routes leading into the city centre to force commuter omnibus drivers from the western suburbs to drive straight to Basch Street Terminus, popularly known as Egodini.
Those from the eastern areas that include North End and Queens Park are barred from proceeding beyond Third Avenue Terminus while kombis from suburbs like Hillside, Suburbs, Famona and Morningside are also expected to drive to Egodini.
The police said a majority of accidents in the city were caused by vehicles that pick and drop passengers at undesignated points.
They said most kombi and pirate taxi drivers just make sudden U-turns in front of oncoming traffic and sometimes just speed across intersections when they are running away from the police.
The police have vowed that the operation would remain in place until every driver complied.
Online Reporter