MUREWA South legislator Noah Mangondo and leading bus operator, Trip Trans, have joined hands by unveiling long-distance buses in rural Murewa to ease transport challenges for the villagers.
The villagers have been facing acute transport challenges to nearby towns and cities as bus operators shunned the routes due to the bad state of the roads.
Travellers were forced to endure high fares from pirate taxis over short distances.
Pirate taxis, popularly known as mshikashikas, charge an average of US$6 between Macheke and Murewa, a 56km journey.
On Thursday, Mangondo took Trip Trans officials to Hilton Farm, where villagers were told of an improved transport system, much to their delight.
The bus operator donated 400 litres of diesel to the Department of Roads to assist in grading some of the roads in the constituency.
The fuel donation was timeous after one of the graders got stuck in the Nhowe Mission area after it had run out of fuel.
“I brought officials from Trip Trans as part of our alliance in assisting us here, as far as transport challenges are concerned. We need more buses to ply our routes so that travelling becomes easy for us," Mangondo said.
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“We are tired of the few bus operators here who leave for Harare at 3am. We want more buses such that our people in Murewa South can travel to and from cities at any time of the day. We are also happy that TripTrans has donated 400 litres of fuel to assist in road rehabilitation. I will personally take the donation to the Transport ministry officials in this district so that road works resume.”
Murewa South Constituency currently has a bad road network that was worsened by the incessant rains in the summer.
The government and the Murewa Rural District Council have been on record that road rehabilitation is being hindered by a shortage of fuel and aging road equipment.
Addressing villagers at the gathering, a Trip Trans top official, Simplisio Jaji, said the bus company will deploy more buses in the rural area.
"Today we have three buses plying routes in Murewa South. We admit that there is a need for more buses, and we wait to hear from travellers and authorities here on which routes to take," said Jaji.
A representative from Murewa's district development co-ordinator's office hailed the move and called for the bus operator to spread wings in the whole Murewa district.
"We are happy with this move, it will ease transport challenges in Murewa South Constituency. We still have other areas in critical need of buses in the district, especially the Murewa Centre to Dandara route; people from that area are facing transport problems," said the representative.
