TRANSPORT-ZIMBABWE: Govt Omnibus Operators Lock Horns

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Lewis Machipisa

HARARE, May 7 2002 (IPS) - They have been stranded before. This time it is not over fuel shortages but fare increases that have seen thousands of commuters in the capital, Harare, subjected to long queues as a number of vehicle operators have opted to stay-away.

Citing escalation in running costs, commuter transport operators last week arbitrarily increased fares by 30 percent. Government responded by erecting roadblocks to nab overcharging operators.

Initially, Ignatius Chombo, the Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, ordered the operators to reverse the fare increases or risk losing their permits.

After talks, the government and commuter omnibus operators agreed to spread the increase over two months, according to the state-run ‘Herald’ newspaper on Tuesday. Chombo was expected to present the deal to cabinet for approval, Tuesday.

The new commuter fare, which was increased last week, followed recent government-approved increases in the prices of bread, cooking oil and other basic items.

Omnibus operators argue that without fare increases they cannot break even as prices of spare parts continue to spiral out of control. To import vehicle parts, dealers now resort to the thriving parallel market, where one U.S. dollar fetches up to 330 Zimbabwe dollars.

Most businesspersons in Zimbabwe have no access to the official exchange rate, which has been pegged at 55 Zimbabwe dollars to the U.S. dollar by government. As a result, banks, too, at times, turn to the parallel market for the green back.

The omnibus operators say they have no option but to pass the costs of the hard currency transactions on the parallel market to the commuter.

Under the new fares, commuters from Glen View, a Harare suburb, travelling to the city’s business centre, a distance of about 10 kilometres, now pay 72 U.S. cents, up from 54 cents, just for a single trip.

Last year the government passed a law making it illegal to peg prices of goods using the parallel market rate.

“Prices of tyres and repairs keep going up but the government won’t allow us to increase our fares. If government does not approve a considerable increase we may as well park our vehicles and stay off-road,” says an omnibus operator.

“For us, it’s cheaper to cross the border and buy tyres and parts from neighbouring countries. But there is no foreign currency in the banks. We buy the Rand (South African currency) from women, who sell their wares in that country,” he says.

Although the government appears to have commuters’ interests at heart by holding talks with commuter omnibus operators, the local private daily doubted its honesty.

“If the government is sincere in its desire to keep down transport costs for the majority of workers, it should … grant commuter bus operators foreign currency at its fixed rate, for the importation of spare parts,” wrote the ‘Daily News’ in a commentary Monday on the crisis.

“The operators are merely seeking to cover the cost of procuring spares through the use of foreign currency obtained from the parallel market,” according to the commentary.

At a time when Zimbabwe’s industry is operating at below half its full capacity, the commuter crisis will further dent the economy as workers report late for work.

Harare has a population of about two million and an estimated third of that regularly commutes between their homes and work places.

Zimbabwe is suffering its worst-ever economic crisis, with unemployment at a record 60 percent, inflation at an all time high of 116 percent and interest rates of 70 percent.

Up to 400 companies shut down last year, according to the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI). The much-needed foreign investment has dried up, while donors have frozen aid. Emergency food is needed to feed an estimated 7.8 million out of the country’s 13 million people who are facing starvation.

Donors have pulled out of Zimbabwe citing worsening political climate and rights abuses. After a period of sustained growth, Zimbabwe’s economy has deteriorated markedly over the past three years.