Desmond Munemo, H-Metro Reporter
ZUPCO chief executive Evaristo Madangwa has revealed that they have decided to install speed-regulating devices on their buses following a spate of accidents blamed on speeding.
In an interview with H-Metro, Madangwa denied claims that they were hiring inexperienced drivers to handle the buses being acquired by government.
A number of the new Zupco buses have been written off in fatal accidents.
“From now onwards, we are putting speed governors or gadgets that will monitor and control speed in our buses.
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“Our recruitment policy requires us to take experienced drivers and this includes the number of years one has been driving.
“We also check the age of a driver to be recruited and most of them fit the system in our data base.
“We are also retraining our drivers to make sure that they are well up to date and won’t miss training on this new equipment that we are introducing.
“This is what we are trying to do in terms of road safety and safe travel,” explained Madangwa.
The CEO also took time to attend to the driver incompetence theory and further explained on a retarder, an auxiliary braking system that some experts have blamed for the accidents.
“If this assumption about the retarder is true, then the issue really needs to be addressed as well.
“But, if we control our speed, all this speculation about retarder will be put to rest.
“On the positive side we have made good initiatives like vehicle tracking system, that should be lauded,” he said.
On reports of rampant ticket fraud, Madangwa urged the public to report cases and help Zupco fulfill its mandate.
“We urge members of the public to make reports and get in touch with us because that is wrong.
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“They can get in touch with is on our toll free numbers and our buses have a number to reach us.
“It is a mixed bag of things because some don’t want this project to be successful.
“We don’t want those kinds of things to happen to the public, report that behavior to us and we take action,” said Madangwa.
– HMETRO
