ZUPCO Buses Grounded As Govt Fails To Provide Fuel

Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) buses on Wednesday ran out of fuel leaving thousands of commuters stranded in Bulawayo’s western suburbs.

A ZUPCO driver who spoke to NewZimbabwe.com on condition of anonymity revealed that they had not received diesel since Monday. The driver said:

Each bus is allocated 100 litres of diesel for every two days. We have not been receiving our allocation for the past two days. We had been promised diesel on Monday but we did not receive anything.

The ZUPCO buses and commuter omnibuses are heavily subsidised by the government, charging only $1 (for buses) for trips that cost $4 when commuters board private kombis.

The disappearance of ZUPCO buses was duly taken advantage of by private commuter omnibus operators who hiked fares from $4 to $5 per trip.

More: NewZimbabwe.com