Africa-Press – Eswatini. Commuters will soon be expected to folk out E10 bus fare for local routes.
This was after the House of Assembly adopted the report of the ministry of public works and transport portfolio committee on the maximum bus and taxi fares amendment regulations yesterday.
The legislators have also called upon the Minister of Public Works and Transport Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe to commission a Transport Indaba where most of the issues affecting the transport industry would be discussed and common ground reached.
Portfolio committee Chairperson Motshane MP Robert Magongo, while motivating for the report to be adopted, asserted that they have engaged the relevant stakeholders and reached common ground.
He acknowledged that in 2019, the transport industry sector made a similar proposal where they proposed for the fares to be increased to E10 for local routes but they were granted E7.50.
“During our engagements, they decried that in that period, fuel prices have increased twice while bus fares have not.
We also agreed that people do not have money but decided to meet each other halfway,” he said.
He was seconded by Gilgal MP Kenneth Sandla Fakudze who noted some of the issues raised by the public transport operators. He said they expressed that at the moment, running the business was now too expensive for them as fuel prices have increased numerous times over the years.
He said they acknowledged that the people did not have money as there has not been no salary review and implementation of the cost of living adjustment (CoLA) yet proposed that the matter should be looked at from a business point of view not social welfare.
He elaborated that the operators also pleaded with government to fix the damaged roads, which increased the costs as their vehicles were damaged.
proposal
Another proposal made was to consider commissioning the transport Indaba which will deliberate on such issues instead of waiting on Parliament like it was the case in other countries.
Minister Chief Ndlaluhlaza supported the report and commended the committee for their dedication in addressing the matter with the urgency it deserved.
Meanwhile Madlangempisi MP Sibusiso ‘Scorpion’ Nxumalo also supported the report.
He also insisted on the need for the commissioning of the transport indaba.
He also proposed that public transport operators should benefit from the funds collected from the fuel levy as they were among the main contributors to the fund while urging them to consider joining forces to share costs and benefits from the industry.
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