Zimpapers Logo

Mashudu Netsianda, Senior Reporter
THE Public Service Commission (PSC) has started distributing 33 buses, which were last month commissioned by President Mnangagwa under the Civil Service Buses Transport Fund to ferry civil servants.

The new buses are being distributed around the country, with Harare getting seven, Bulawayo six, Manicaland three, Midlands three, Masvingo three, Matabeleland North two, Matabeleland South two, Mashonaland West two, Mashonaland Central two, Mashonaland East two, with the remaining ones reserved for the PSC Head Office.

The distribution exercise of the buses is expected to be completed this week.

President Mnangagwa handed over the buses during a ceremony held in Harare and promised to prioritise the welfare of civil servants.

PSC Secretary, Ambassador Jonathan Wutawunashe yesterday said the move was aimed at alleviating the transport problems faced by civil servants.

“Government has made a decision to address the transport difficulties that were being faced by public servants. We realised that it is important to augment the fleet of buses that we have so that we have adequate coverage of the various destinations to which our public sector workers go,” he said.

Amb Wutawunashe said the buses will provide sustainable and affordable transport for civil servants in cities, towns and rural areas.

“The buses were commissioned and allocated on 17 March 2020. Since then, provinces have been sending drivers to collect their buses and we expect the exercise to be completed this week,” he said.

Last year in August, 25 buses were commissioned for the PSC fleet and President Mnangagwa said he had received a lot of positive feedback.

President Mnangagwa said Government is moving towards full empowerment of its workforce. He said the challenges facing the national transport sector remain a major preoccupation of Government, given the sector’s central role in the economy.

As part of efforts to address these challenges, the President said Government is refocusing the National Transport Policy, while new strategies are being pursued to speed up ongoing transport infrastructural development projects.

Recently, Zupco also added to its fleet another 65 new buses to assist the public with reliable and affordable transport. This follows on the initial batch of buses that came at the very beginning of this programme.

President Mnangagwa said the provision of affordable transport was part of a number of initiatives aimed at ensuring decent livelihoods for civil servants through a continuous review of their conditions of service. – @mashnets