Bus depot project excites passengers

 Chitipa residents have expressed excitement with the resumption of construction works of Chitipa Bus Depot.

In an interview on Tuesday, taxi operator Godfrey Nyondo said the project was a step in the right direction.

He said: “We have been plying our businesses in a harsh environment because there was no order and sanity.

“Again, passengers found it hard to locate passenger vehicles to their destinations.”

One of the commuters, Jane Kayuni, a businessperson from Lilongwe who travels to Tunduma in Tanzania to order merchandise, said as a border district which hosts

 trans-border businesspeople who normally travel at night, the depot should have facilities such as toilets and urinals.

Chitipa Taxi Drivers Association chairperson Chalero Mwafulirwa said the development will ease challenges that both taxi operators and passengers were facing.

“Currently, the situation is pathetic. No urinals, no shelter for both drivers and passengers, no space for parking due to congestion caused by vendors,” he said.

In an interview, B & R Construction company site supervisor Langson Kapanda said the project consists of construction of the fence, shops and toilets.

Chitipa District Council chairperson Thomson Kapesa said the council has adopted government’s flagship project policy to construct the depot with full facilities.

“We started the construction works with the 2022/23 K90 million District Development Fund [DDF] and this financial year, we have allocated K127 million from DDF to the project,” he said