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Canditar Chapanduka, Chronicle Reporter
MATABELELAND North Province has deployed two Public Service Commission (PSC) buses to Binga and Nkayi from the 18 buses that President Mnangagwa commissioned last week in Gwanda, Matabeleland South Province under the Civil Service Rural Transport Scheme.
The Civil Service Rural Transport Scheme seeks to ease transport challenges faced by rural based civil servants and is in fulfillment of the Government’s philosophy of “leaving no one and no place behind”.
To date up to 90 buses have been availed to Government workers out of the targeted 150 buses. The President commissioned 25 buses in 2019, an additional 33 in 2020, plus 13 in 2021.
However, these were mainly targeting urban areas.
Under the Civil Service Rural Transport Scheme, out of the 18 buses that were commissioned by President Mnangagwa last week, Matabeleland South province received three buses, Matabeleland North two, Midlands three, Manicaland two, Masvingo two, Mashonaland Central two, Mashonaland East two and Mashonaland West Province two.
In an interview, Matabeleland North Provincial Affairs Minister, Richard Moyo said the two buses the province received have been deployed to operate in Binga and Nkayi following the transport challenges that rural civil servants face.
“Two buses have been released to Binga and Nkayi and they have been deployed to the stations where they will be operating from,” he said.
He said they will be of great help by making work easier for Government workers as they will be ferrying them from their homes to offices and back.
“However, the Government has deployed seven more buses that are yet to come and they will be issued out to different places where they will be operating from as they come including Bubi and Umguza districts,” he said.
“We are deploying buses to the furthest places where transport was a challenge so that it will help workers who stay from far places. We started with Nkayi and Binga and we are also going to deploy buses to the places where there were already buses for the past years.”
He said they are following the President’s philosophy of “leaving no one and no place behind”.
The Minister said Government is helping with other projects in Matabeleland North.
“We are so happy because our projects are funded by the national Government treasury. We have projects like Lake Gwayi Shangani, Unit Seven and Eight and other provincial hospital projects at Lupane that are going on very well. We don’t have complaints at the moment,” said Minister Moyo.
“I wish that the treasury keeps on bringing funds to the projects we are carrying out so that the contractors won’t pull out of the projects and stop doing the projects due to funds.”
While commissioning the rural buses last week, President Mnangagwa said the intervention was in response to an outcry by civil servants.
“We have many civil servants working in rural areas in our districts and provinces and we are giving them these buses to address the problem of transport,” said the President.
“They should be proud to own these buses, not what I have seen in a certaincountry where public sector workers board buses with goats and chickens. Here they should just carry their handbags.
“We are handing over these buses to the local leadership and they should look after them well.” — @NomqheleC.
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