The Zimbabwean government has awarded a Chinese company the tender to provide 250 buses to a Zimbabwean transport company as part of the efforts to alleviate the country's transport problems, the state media New Ziana reported on Thursday.

Local Government and Urban Development Minister Ignatius Chombo was quoted as saying that "the government has given a tender to supply 250 buses to a Chinese company and these will be delivered as soon as we pay the required foreign currency."

He said the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) had recently purchased five buses that were plying cross boarder and inter-city routes.

Chombo added that China had donated a sixth luxury bus to ZUPCO, which was due in the country before Christmas.

He said ZUPCO had also purchased at least 15 out of the total 100 engine kits planned to be purchased from China. Chinese and local engineers were in the process of fitting the purchased engine kits onto old bus shells.

The 250 buses would be deployed in every province by the end of the year to ameliorate channels being experienced in farming areas where transport operators had withdrawn their services.

"We expect that by the end of March all Rural District Councils will have buses within their areas," he said.

The government is under pressure to rebuild the ZUPCO fleet as part of the efforts to alleviate the plight of people who are being exploited by private transport operators throughout the country.

Source: Xinhua