Police in Bulawayo have launched an operation to bar commuter omnibuses plying the western suburbs-city route from entering the central business district.
The operation to force public transporters to use the Basch Street Terminus, popularly known as Egodini, started on Monday.
Yesterday, the Bulawayo police press and public relations office declined to comment and referred NewsDay to National Traffic police spokesperson for comment.
Acting National Traffic police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Luckmore Chakanza said he had not yet received the report on the issue from Bulawayo.
However, Newsday witnessed the police mounting roadblocks along Third Avenue Extension to prevent commuter omnibuses from entering the city centre and directing them to Egodini.
The move comes at a time when reports of pedestrians being knocked down by kombis in the city were on the increase.
Commuter omnibuses plying the western suburbs such as Entumbane, Emakhandeni, Luveve, Lobengula, Mpopoma, Magwegwe, Pumula and Cowdray Park, which used to get into the CBD via Third Avenue Extension, were forced to go to Egodini.
Those who used to pick up passengers at the corner of Herbert Chitepo Street and Leopold Takawira Avenue, close to Tredgold Building and corner Fort Street and 10th Avenue, were also blocked.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
A commuter omnibus driver plying the city-Emakhandeni route, Clifford Sithole, said police were blocking them from entering the city on the grounds that commuter omnibuses were now too many.
“Kombis using the city-Luveve route to get into town are blocked at Makokoba by the police and directed to Egodini,” he said.
“They are telling us that we are congesting the city and end up causing unnecessary accidents.”
