BY Stephen Chadenga
Gweru City Council says it will soon roll out an automated pre-paid parking system to replace the old manual system that has been condemned by both motorists and residents as open to abuse by council employees.
Acting finance director Owen Masimba said more than $1 million has been set aside for the project with council scouting for partners starting this month.
“We have set aside $1,3 million for an electronic parking system,” Masimba told Southern Eye yesterday.
“There is need to do away with the manual system, which has been criticised by stakeholders as being unreliable and open to abuse. As council, we will this month start to flight tenders for potential partners in the project.”
The decision to introduce the electronic system follows the collapse, three years ago, of a joint venture between council and a local company, Zemqos to set up an automated pre-paid parking system. Zemqos failed to meet tender specifications.
Gweru flighted another tender, but the State Procurement Board indicated that the bidders did not meet the standard requirements.
The city relies on the manual system, which was introduced in 2012, but authorities say the system is unreliable after council failed to stop revenue leakages through pilferage by workers who collect the parking fees.
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Council pegged the fees for parking a car in the central business district at a dollar per hour, while the cost of clamping is $30, as clamped and towed away vehicles attract a fine of $80.
