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Victor Maphosa
Herald Reporter
In a bid to complement Government efforts to curb the spread of Covid-19, the Zimbabwe Passenger Transport Organisation (ZPTO) has embarked on a nationwide Covid-19 awareness campaign targeting rank marshals, vendors and passengers.
The three groups of people work directly with transporters on a daily basis.
Yesterday, ZPTO launched the campaign at Mbare main bus terminus in Harare where they engaged vendors, passengers and rank marshals, as the public transporters step up the fight against the deadly pandemic.
Soon after the outbreak of the pandemic in Zimbabwe last year, long distant buses were banned from operating, but as the Government interventions which include vaccinating the public, bear fruit, lockdown measures were relaxed and private bus operators were permitted to resume operations provided they adhere, strictly, to all set regulations.
Yesterday morning, before they engaged and addressed vendors, rank marshals and passengers, members of the ZPTO had a meeting where they agreed to strictly adhere to all regulations while giving world class service to customers.
The meeting was to map the way forward after the announcement of the new regulations by Government over the weekend.
Among other things, the operators agreed to include the closure of other entry points at the Mbare rank serve for four entrances where two of them will be for entrance while the other two will be for the exit of buses. This is meant for easier monitoring and enforcement of the regulations. All buses will be disinfected before loading passengers, with all passengers getting their temperatures checked and sanitised before being allocated a seat in the bus
Operators also agreed that each and every bus must have a thermometer to check the crew and passengers’ temperature, sanitisers and disinfectant equipment so that when it gets to its destination, the crew will then disinfect the bus.
Also, operators agreed to take turns on a daily basis to patrol the bus ranks to ensure that there is total compliance to all regulations and all the equipment should be produced upon request. They also agreed to conscietise those that they directly work with.
Speaking soon after the meeting, ZPTO chairman Mr Samson Nhanhanga said they are rallying behind Government efforts to combat the pandemic.
“The biggest thing we have today is the Covid-19 awareness campaign. We have come here to tell the people the impact of Covid-19 and how best we can do to reduce and eliminate it. “Our main issue is to educate the people who work in the buses, the bus crews, the rank marshals and all those who work around the buses.
“We have those who sell their wares, we encourage them not to enter inside the buses. Our biggest worry is that whenever a lot of people meet, that is when the spread occurs.
“So our biggest word today is, ‘let us combat Covid-19’ and if everyone complies, as is what is given in our standard operation procedure we will combat this disease,” he said.
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