adminMasvingo Correspondent
MOTORISTS in Masvingo are up in arms with the city council following the reintroduction of pre-paid parking discs. The motorists are unhappy with the reintroduced parking discs arguing that it will make their lives unbearable and affect business in the Central Business District (CBD).
The parking discs cost 50 cents per hour.
Municipal police are deployed to the streets collecting parking fees from all motorists who park their vehicles within designated pre-paid parking zones in the city centre.
Pre-paid parking discs were introduced in October 2012 but the programme was stopped after a public outcry, hardly a month after their introduction.
Motorists said 50 cents per hour was too high considering that those who work in town would park their vehicles for at least eight hours a day.
They said different rates should be used for those whose business premises are located in town as council already collects revenue from them through levies and shop licences.
“While we don’t deny the fact that council should find ways to raise revenue to finance its activities, the money charged on prepaid discs is too high considering they charge it on an hourly basis.
“My business is right in the city centre and that means every day I’ve to pay $4 for parking. That amounts to $20 a week,” said Patrick Sibanda, a businessman.
He said the most disturbing thing was that service delivery was not improving despite the city council collecting revenue from all ratepayers.
“We’ve been paying our rates to council for a long time. The council should in turn improve service delivery. This hasn’t been the case. I’m a law-abiding resident who pays my rates without fail. I pay not less than $20 per week yet the road I’m paying for is unattended,” he said.
Prisca Vela who works for a housing co-operative in the city said the pre-paid parking discs were inconveniencing motorists.
She said pre-paid discs would worsen the burden of most parents who were struggling to raise school fees for their children.
“I used to park my car in front of my workplace but I’ve since changed. I’m now parking it at a place situated about a kilometre away from my office as I’m afraid that it may be clamped.
“Money is scarce and it’s practically impossible for me to save $4 every day for parking only. My car also needs servicing. Imagine how much I should save for the car only. A dollar per day for parking would be practical,” said Vela.
The Mayor, Councillor Hubert Fidze, confirmed the re-launch of the pre-paid parking disc programme.
He said the programme would help bring sanity into the CBD and expand the council’s revenue base.
“I can confirm that we’ve re-introduced pre-paid parking discs to bring order in the city centre. The programme will also help raise revenue for council.
“We want motorists with genuine business in the city and not a situation whereby everyone drives into the city centre causing congestion. We can only decongest traffic through making motorists pay,” said Clr Fidze.
He said council had designated 1,289 pre-paid parking areas for a start but the slots will increase in future.
The mayor said the pre-paid parking concept will also help curb crime in the city centre.
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