The Bulawayo City Council (BCC) will soon introduce parking vouchers that will see the cost of parking going down.
There has been an outcry from motorists and other stakeholders on the parking fees which are currently pegged at US$1 for an hour.
Speaking during the recent full council meeting, councillors called for a review of the parking system saying motorists were being short changed.
“This technology is being misused, why is it not being improved as they are getting funds in United States Dollars? If you park at a certain bay and get into a pharmacy to buy medicine and you move to another location, you are made to pay again,” said Ward 20 Councillor Alderman Rafamoyo.
“They should not just promise that they are going to sort the problem, when are they going to sort the problem? We are asking that they fix that before they milk the people of Bulawayo,” he said.
Meanwhile, ward 8 Councilor Edwin Ndlovu said there is a need to educate TTI staff members on some road rules.
“We are asking that if I lapse parking by 10-15 minutes, it shouldn’t be a dollar, they should charge on actualities, maybe round off to 30-20 minutes. Secondly, in front of the shops, there are delivery vehicles, there are yellow lines, I think those people are not well trained, last week I almost intervened but then said thus not my mandate, they clamped a delivery van in front of a shop which had parked on a yellow line.
“Yellow line means it is a reserved place, that space is reserved for those delivery vans. I think they need training and should be aware that shops should be able to deliver their goods,” he said.
Councilor Ndlovu added that “ There is a huge outcry out there as city fathers we won’t be doing our job if residents are crying and we are not hearing their cry.”
In response the Mayor, Solomon Mguni said they are in constant engagements with the partner and a new system of vouchers will be introduced soon.
“That voucher will cover an hour from different parking bays, I think from the communication I received that would be done,” said Mguni.
He said the new voucher system will see motorists being to park in parking in different bays using the same voucher.
“It is something that is in progress, in a month or so that will be done,” said Mayor Mguni.
