Sunday News (Zimbabwe)

Private car park owners form associatio­n

- Simba Jemwa Sunday News Correspond­ent

CAR park owners in Bulawayo have come together to establish the Bulawayo Day and Night Car Park Associatio­n which was launched last week in an effort to syncronise their operations and improve on management skills as well as develop standardis­ed security measures.

The members of the associatio­n represent the informal parking sector which consists of private companies that are operating and managing off-street parking structures and offer day and night parking solutions.

Since the introducti­on of the parking management system in the Central Business District the Bulawayo City Council has called on motorists to engage the services of parkade centres and private parking facilities, if they wish to park for long periods, hence the need for the formalisat­ion of the sector.

The associatio­n’s interim chairman, Mr Albert Sibanda said it was formed to be a forum for all car parking throughout Bulawayo, in order to facilitate discussion and exchange of informatio­n on profession­al issues at provincial level.

It also aims to be a driving force in improving the image of car parking in the city, organise lectures, conference­s and workshops on profession­al parking.

“We also want use this forum to co-ordinate industry relations on a wide range of policy issues affecting car parking, including car park design, staff training, quality standards, constructi­on, finance, taxation and regulation at both local and national levels.

“As members of this associatio­n, we must serve as a point of contact for those in, or with an interest in, the car parking industry here in Bulawayo. We are also hoping to become a leading authority on parking industry research and advocacy,” he said.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Sibanda also revealed that the associatio­n’s membership stands at 48.

“This alone shows that there is need to unite as a business entity. It is unfortunat­e that some of our colleagues in the business have developed a wait and see attitude.

“Allow me to put it forward that the individual­ism model of operating a community business venture will not succeed in the modern society as it carries a number of implicatio­ns towards country and city developmen­t strategies in achieving Vision 2030 goals as set out by his Excellency, the President of Zimbabwe,” said Mr Sibanda.

The guest of honour at the launch, Cde Judith Ncube who is the Bulawayo Metropolit­an Minister for Provincial Affairs and Devolution congratula­ted the associatio­n for the initiative and called on them to heed the President’s call and to help build the country’s economy.

She also implored car park owners to ensure scrap vehicles are removed from their car parks.

@RealSimbaJ­emwa

 ?? ?? Minister Judith Ncube
Minister Judith Ncube

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