The Chronicle
Bongani Ndlovu/Flora Fadzai Sibanda, Chronicle Reporters
The arrival of Tendy Three Investments (TTI) in Bulawayo city center has brought an appearance of cleanliness to parking spaces and reduced crime.
Tendy Three Investments (TTI)
TTI handles the city’s parking management, having been awarded the tender in 2020 under a build, operate and transfer (BOT) agreement with BCC getting 30 percent of every dollar generated.
The company started collecting fees for the first phase of the arrangement on February 18 and since the implementation of the parking spaces, there has been an outcry from residents, especially motorists, that the fees are exorbitant .
Drivers in Bulawayo must part with US$1 or the local currency equivalent to park for one hour, with the same amount being charged even if only parking for less than an hour.
Last week, TTI announced that its IT department was working around the clock to configure its systems to allow motorists to transfer their parking between zones.
This will mean that motorists can park in different bays within the pay hour, than before when they paid US$1 each time they park in a bay.
Parking spaces where TTI officers with bright yellow searchlights have seen are deserted and the streets are now clean. There is less congestion along the zones and the TTI crew is expanding, with other crews blocking motorists who park in non-designated spots.
There are some places where urban youth have been using parking spaces as car washes, littering the area with water. Some drink alcohol and use nearby trees as urinals to relieve themselves.
Streets like Fife Street, Jason Moyo and Joshua Mqabuko Nkomo are now clear as city center motorists who park there go about their business and leave.
Those who spend all day at work are now forced to park in areas where TTI does not have its parking system in place.
Crime has also gone down in areas under TTI.
Assistant Inspector Nomalanga Msebele
Acting Bulawayo provincial police spokesperson Assistant Inspector Nomalanga Msebele said they have seen a reduction in crime, particularly car theft.
“Car theft cases where people leave large sums of money or valuables have been drastically reduced. We suspect that this paid parking has contributed as parking wardens act as guards and can see what people are doing,” Deputy Inspector Msebele said.
He said accidents in the city center have been reduced.
However, Deputy Inspector Msebele said the criminals have moved to the outskirts of the city.
“People are now congesting those places where paid parking has not been implemented. Criminals are now concentrated in these areas,” Deputy Inspector Msebele said.
Environmentalist Tonderai Shoko said the arrival of TTI has exposed the severity of littering in the city.
“What we have noticed with TTI is that it has exposed the level of littering in Bulawayo. The reason I say this is because where it started, cars would park and people would throw litter between the vehicles and no one would see you. This has been exposed , bugs are now seen. You can’t change your character overnight, so this has exposed the level of garbage that has been seen,” Shoko said.
“Early in the morning before you get into the city, there will be so much litter and you wonder where that litter came from overnight. However, it’s people’s littering and cars will cover all that litter “.
Shoko said that while the city center may be clean, where the TTI parking system has not been implemented, litter is rampant.
“It has brought rubbish out of the CBD and all the alleyways out of the CBD are now full of rubbish. Especially Sixth Avenue to Egodini is worse now where people are stuck. We need to have more bins in those areas.
TTI has exposed Bulawayo and it has a long way to go in terms of littering and making its residents aware of not littering,” said Shoko.
“It has also reduced litter levels as there is not much traffic in Bulawayo. People are now not brazen about littering as the CBD is clear and clean. It is good for the inner CBD and people see that not only can they leave litter, but outside the CBD now it’s a mess.”
Bulawayo City Council (BCC)
Meanwhile, motorists in Bulawayo are collecting signatures in an attempt to ask the Bulawayo City Council (BCC) to “suspend” the parking ordinance or reduce parking fees.
A Bulawayo man, Mr Idries Chaibu, who started the petition, said he was asking City Council to suspend its tender with TTI and to consult first.
The petition also calls for parking fees to be reduced.
“BCC under the leadership of the mayor, city clerk and elected councilors partnered with a private company called TTI without proper public consultation, imposing a very friendly and abnormally expensive parking system on the business community and residents,” he said.
This has been done without following the proper bidding processes and a disclosure of the contract to the public, a common practice among councilors as collected and advised against by the General Auditor’s Report 2019. The agreement and the underlying bids should be suspended while thorough investigations are carried out promptly.
In an interview with a motorist, Farai Moyo, who signed the petition, said they were not trying to have TTI shut down, but they want their legitimacy as a Zimbabwean company to be verified and parking fees to be reduced.