17 Oct 2016

Southern District council deputy secretary, Mr Gilbert Maifala says there are  plans  to upgrade Kanye bus rank to ease business.
In an interview recently, Mr Maifala said he was aware of challenges faced by the transport industry  at the bus rank.
“We are aware of the challenges faced by public transport businesses especially during holidays at the rank. We are aware that the bus rank sometimes experiences congestion due to its inability to accommodate desired quantities of buses,” he said.
He further said long term plans were underway to attend to the challenges as the bus rank was initially constructed to accommodate medium population.
“The bus rank was initially constructed per plan but it should be noted that, at the time of construction, it was designed to only cater for a medium population.
The village population has increased due to expansion of the village hence through our several council consultative seating’s we have penned long term plans to increase capacity at the bus rank,” he said.
Mr Maifala further said there were undaunted with piracy.

Public transport operators have also raised several concerns with regards to overcrowding which they alluded their business failure to.
One taxi marshal, Mr Bathusi Moseja indicated that accidents were rampant at the bus rank due to congestion of taxis at the rank.
“We have been complaining about the bus rank for years now, the bus rank is small. Public Service Vehicles Permits (PSVs)  have been issued in large quantities of recent. This has aggravated the situation, sometimes we can stand still whilst buses literally block passage for taxis to pass.
“I think if the bus rank can be renovated or a location could be established for construction of a new one that is secluded to host  public transport, that could address the situation,” he said
Mr Moseja further said the challenges had resulted in loss of business.
“Apart from issues of space, the taxi population is huge. We cannot make any returns due to limitless population. Each day more taxis enter the market despite lack of space,” he said. ENDS