THE Zimbabwe Passenger Transport Organisation (ZPTO) has welcomed government's recent move to end duty-free importation of public service buses and prioritise local vehicle assembly.
Government in the 2025 budget proposed to end the temporary suspension of customs duty on imported public service buses from January 1, 2025.
It said in a bid to level the playing field for local manufacturers, customs duty on semi-knocked-down kits for buses and trucks would be suspended for two years starting from January 2025.
In a statement, ZPTO chairperson Samson Nhanhanga said the move would create jobs for locals and help to retain foreign currency.
Nhanhanga said the duty-free rebate had served its purpose in aiding the country to meet its transport requirements.
“After the duty-free for buses was announced we bought more than 1 500 buses. Right now we are expecting another batch of 200 new buses to arrive this festive season.
“Our initial target was 500 buses but you can see now that we tripled that target and going forward we have enough buses for the next three years.
“The call by government to cut the import bill and empower the local bus manufacturing industry is a good move.
- Transporters welcome suspension of customs duty
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“The development will create jobs for the locals as well as save the foreign currency that we have been using in procuring buses from China.”
He called on stakeholders in the industry to work towards empowering and value addition of the bus manufacturing sector.
The government in 2022 suspended import duty on public transport buses with approved importers enjoying duty-free rebate for not more than 20 public transport vehicles.
Meanwhile, Nhanhanga said transporters had engaged the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe to commence awareness campaigns ahead of the festive season.
“We have engaged the Traffic Safety Council for awareness campaigns in trying to reduce the road carnage. We are advocating for an accident-free holiday.
“We are also constantly teaching our crews the importance of avoiding road traffic accidents at all costs,” he said.
Last year, 87 people died while 424 others were injured in 1 194 road accidents recorded countrywide between December 15 and 26.
According to police of the 1 194 road accidents, 60 were fatal.
During the same period in 2022, 102 people were killed while 289 others were injured in 1 480 accidents recorded countrywide. Of all the accidents recorded, 71 were fatal.
