A FEW years ago Victoria Falls City Council started a project of constructing a long-distance bus rank in Mkhosana suburb.
A perimeter fence was erected and the premises were paved with a tarred surface in preparation for a bus rank that wouldhave seen travellers from Mkhosana and Mfelandawonye boarding and dropping off close to their homes, instead of walking to Chinotimba where the operational bus terminus is located.
More than five years down the line, the Mkhosana terminus, located behind Moringa Shopping Centre is still incomplete and slowly turning into a white elephant.
The perimeter fence has been destroyed. Inside there are broken-down buses and some vehicles that have been parked for months.
Sometimes some long-distance operators park their buses there for repairs. A guard room is complete and ready for use while a public toilet was recently constructed and is not yet connected to running water.
Some alert residents have witnessed the premises being turned into a haven for criminals with patrons from nearby nightclubs using the place as a safe place to consume drugs.
During the day, there are people playing draughts, a game mostly regarded as a sport for “lazy people” and at night the game of poker takes place.
Deep into the night, the real drama happens as the fenced area is turned into a sex den.
Some residents told Saturday Chronicle that each morning they come across used condoms within the terminus which is surrounded by three night clubs — Mbumez Wabantu, Vic Vegas and Club42.
A news crew visited the place one evening and encountered small groups of people, some within the premises playing draughts while some were just walking around.
The place is filthy and overwhelmed bythe strong smell of urine and human stools, with empty beer containers, used condoms and different kinds of litter strewn everywhere.
One man sat alone near the far end precast wall rolling a joint.
“I am just sitting here waiting for my friends and decided to smoke and freshen my mind,” said the man who declined to reveal his identity while demanding that no pictures be taken of him.
Residents are concerned that the place might develop into a serious crime scene if the council delays completing and opening it for use.
“For us, this is a safe place and we don’t allow any criminal activity. People want to defile the place by urinating or defecating here but as long as we are here during the day we make sure no one does that and we have vowed to even take the law into our own hands to protect the place to keep our city clean,” said a resident who preferred anonymity.
Obert Dube, a Victoria Falls-based praise poet who has been a critic of social ills in the city and beyond, said urgent measures are needed.
“The rank is closer to night clubs and there is commercial sex work happening there. Every time there are used condoms there and we wonder what will become of the city if this continues,” said Dube.
He said opening up the rank will also reduce incidents of mugging of people.
“People get robbed as they go or come from the turn-off and Chinotimba where they board and drop off from buses at night. We can’t wait to act after someone has been killed. We know the bus rank will help in the sense that buses will turn into Mkhosana and drop off or pick up people there closer to their houses which is safe,” he said.
Sometimes people also encounter wild animals in the terminus as cases of human-wildlife conflict are common in Victoria Falls.
Opening Mkhosana Rank will also help decongest Chinotimba Rank which is overcrowded with more than 10 buses that ply the Victoria Falls-Bulawayo route.
Victoria Falls Combined Residents Association secretary Nguquko Tshili said residents have raised the issue of the bus rank during budget meetings.
“Residents have raised the issue as a concern but there was no concrete response. Council said it handed over the toilet to a private player to park his cars in return for the operator building toilets. We have raised the issue because people encounter challenges when they go to Chinotimba and the council also said it had no funding and was scouting for investors.
“As for the issue of being used as a crime scene, there are no reports as yet but we know that with bars nearby anything is possible as the place is busy. We fear this could also fuel high drug abuse and we always sensitise residents to be positive and minimise the use of drugs and criminal activities as these are not morally good,” said Tshili.
Victoria Falls ward 2 Councillor Tonderai Mutasa, who was representing the mayor, said the local authority is working on completing the facility.
“As council, we are working on something around that rank which is in Mkhosana. We understand some people are abusing the facility but as council, we have plans and I think you have seen a toilet is coming up and very soon we will be able to announce what exactly we will be using that rank for. The place is tarred and fenced and its use will be revealed soon chief among that to be used as a rank,” he said. – The Chronicle
