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Vusumuzi Dube, Online News Editor
THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has insisted that US$1 for an hour parking charge will not be reduced as this is the benchmark charge across the country for short-term parking.
The clarification follows a recent introduction by Tendy Three Investments (TTI) of a 55 percent discounted long-term package for motorists who intend to park for the entire day. Giving clarity on the matter, the local authority’s corporate communications manager, Mrs Nesisa Mpofu said the packages were only for those intending to park in the city for longer periods.
“All parking bays were re-zoned to $1/hr on the 13th of March 2022 and they remain as such. The daily package that was launched on 21 August 2023 is in essence a way of trying to make the discount that is enjoyed by corporates on the monthly, fortnightly, weekly packages accessible to those who spend a long time in the central business district, but can only afford to pay on a daily basis as opposed to a monthly lump sum.
The hourly rate will not be slashed as this is the benchmark fee across the country for short-term parking and transit motorists,” said the council spokesperson.
Mrs Mpofu said parking in the city is supposed to be rotated and it is expected that motorists spending a few hours in town must pay the $1 an hour package noting that the packages were meant for long term users who spend more than four hours and would like to take advantage of the discount offered.
“The monthly package offers a discount of about 55 percent. This very same discount has been offered to those who spend the whole day in town. Instead of paying $9 from 8am to 5pm one can now pay only $4 and park the whole day. All the packages are obtained from the TTI office and a dedicated counter at the Revenue Hall, besides the daily package which motorists can buy directly from the parking marshals on the ground,” she said.
In coming up with the discounted packages, Mrs Mpofu revealed that there was a lot of thought process and factoring in of input from various stakeholders. She said various factors, observations and comments were considered from motorists especially those spending a lot of time in the CBD.
“There is a Project Management Committee (PMC) and a Project Steering Committee (PSC) which handle all operational and administrative issues pertaining to the execution of the project, as prescribed by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (Zida). The introduction of the packages was brought before the PMC and the PSC and was approved. Policy makers will be engaged,” said Mrs Mpofu.
The local authority last year entered into a partnership with TTI for the installation of a parking management system in the city. However, this deal has met considerable opposition from motorists and residents who have said the charges were too high and were leading to deinvestment in the city.
Meanwhile, council sources have revealed that panic buttons have been pressed in the council chambers following the election of a new crop of councillors with management carrying out internal audits to assess progress of a number of projects that have been previously red flagged.
BCC retained just six of its previous councillors, this meaning there will be a relatively new council that will be sworn in and a number of the new councillors have indicated that they intend to carry out audits on a number of projects.
“Management has in the past week been busy demanding reports on a number of projects that have been mentioned to be questionable as they anticipate a lot of pressure for responses from the new councillors,” said the source.
In an interview with Sunday News in the run up to the elections, former Education Minister, who has been seconded by the Citizens Coalition for Change (CCC) to be the next mayor — Councillor David Coltart said they would be looking at a number of tenders that were awarded by the previous council to see whether they were any anomalies in their awarding.
“My intention is to use my skills as a lawyer of 40 years’ experience, my experience as Minister of Education where I had to tackle corruption head on to review those contracts to see whether they are lawfully entered into, were the proper tender procedures followed, are they in the best interests of the citizens and if not then we need to act to cancel those contracts and to show that we have contracts that are entered into for the best interest of the citizens,” he said.
However, sources revealed last week that a number of newly-elected councillors have been having “private” meetings with some businessmen who do business with the local authority, something that has raised suspicion of underhand dealings before councillors are even sworn in.
“Let’s assume that there is corruption in council as claimed by some people, how will these newly-elected councillors handle that issue if they are already having private meetings with some local businesspeople who do business with council, before they are even sworn in?,” said a source privy to goings on at CCC.
Online Reporter