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Bongani Ndlovu/ Flora Fadzai Sibanda, Chronicle Reporters

The coming in of Tendy Three Investments (TTI) in Bulawayo’s city centre has brought about a semblance of cleanliness at parking bays and reduced crime.

TTI runs the city’s parking management, having been awarded the tender in 2020 under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) arrangement with BCC getting 30 percent from every dollar generated.

The company started collecting fees under the first phase of the arrangement on February 18 and since the implementation of the parking bays, there has been an outcry by residents especially motorists that the charges are exorbitant.

Motorists in Bulawayo must part with US$1 or its equivalent in local currency to park for an hour, with the same amount being demanded even if one just parks for less than an hour.

Last week, TTI announced that its IT department was working round the clock to configure its systems to allow motorists to be able to transfer their parking between bays.

This will mean that motorists can park in different bays within the paid hour, than previously when they would pay US$1 each time they park in a bay.

The parking bays where the TTI troopers in bright yellow reflectors are manning has seen them being deserted and the streets there are now clean. There is less congestion along the areas and the TTI crew is expanding, with the other crews clamping truant motorists who park at undesignated                  places.

There are some places where urban youth have been using the parking bays as car washes soiling the area, with water. Some drink alcohol and use nearby trees as urinaries to relieve themselves.

Streets such as Fife Street, Jason Moyo and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo are now clear as the city centre motorists parking there do their business and leave.

Those who are spending the whole day at work are now forced to park in areas where TTI have not implemented their parking system.

Crime has also gone down in areas under TTI.

Bulawayo acting provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nomalanga Msebele said they have observed a reduction in crime, especially theft from cars.

“Cases of theft from cars where people leave large sums of money or valuables, have reduced drastically. We suspect that this paid parking has contributed as parking bay marshals act as guards and can see what people are doing,” said Assistant Inspector Msebele.

She said accidents in the city centre have reduced.

However, Assistant Inspector Msebele said criminals have moved to the outskirts of the city.

“People are now congesting those places that the paid parking hasn’t been implemented. The criminals are now concentrating on those areas,” said Assistant Inspector Msebele.

Environmentalist Mr Tonderai Shoko said the coming in of TTI has exposed the gravity of littering in the city.

“What we have noticed with TTI is that it has exposed the level of littering in Bulawayo. Why I’m saying this is because where it started, cars would park and people would throw litter in between the vehicles and no one would see you. That has been exposed, litterbugs are now being seen. You can’t change your character overnight, so that has exposed the level of littering that has been seen,” said Mr Shoko.

“First thing in the morning before you get into town, there will be so much litter and you ask yourself where did this litter come from overnight. However, it’s the littering that people do and cars will be covering all that litter.”

Mr Shoko said although the city centre may be clean, where the TTI parking system has not been implemented, there is rampant littering.

“It’s brought the littering out of the CBD and all the alleys towards outside the CBD are now full of litter. Especially Sixth Avenue up to Egodini is now worse where people are cramped up. We need to have more bins in those areas.

TTI has exposed Bulawayo and it needs to go a long way in terms of litter and conscientising its residents on not littering,” said Mr Shoko.

“It has also brought littering to reduced levels as there isn’t much traffic in Bulawayo. People are now not brazen in littering as the CBD is clear and clean. It’s good for the inner CBD and people see that they can’t just litter, but for out of CBD it’s now a mess.”

Meanwhile, Bulawayo motorists are collecting signatures in an effort to petition Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to “suspend” the parking arrangement or have parking fees reduced.

A Bulawayo man Mr Idries Chaibu who initiated the petition said they were asking the City Council to suspend its tender with TTI and consult first.

The petition is also demanding that the parking fees be reduced.

“BCC under the stewardship of the Mayor, town clerk and elected councillors got into partnership with a private company called TTI without proper public consultation imposing a very friendly and abnormally expensive parking system to the business community and the residents,” he said.

This was done without due tender processes followed and a contract disclosure to the public, a common habit among councillors as captured and discouraged by the Auditor General Report 2019. The underlying deal and tender should be suspended while thorough investigations are carried out promptly.

In an interview a motorist, Mr Farai Moyo who signed the petition said they were not trying to have TTI closed down but they want its legitimacy as a Zimbabwean company to be verified and for parking fees to be reduced.