BUS RANK COVID-19 RISK AS SANITISING FADES

  MBABANE – The Mbabane Bus Rank has become a breeding ground for COVID-19, as public transport workers have abandoned sanitising their vehicles and passengers.

This is despite the fact that vehicles have been allowed a loading capacity of 80 per cent, meaning social distancing is almost impossible.
Currently, the country has over 1 000 COVID-19 positive cases.

In a fact-finding mission following the increase in COVID-19 cases, this reporter witnessed that the kombi drivers and conductors were not following the guidelines stipulated by the Ministry of Health, which include sanitisation of passengers when boarding the vehicles.
Passengers were also loaded without disinfecting the vehicle handles and seats among other things.

When questioned on their behaviour, the public transport drivers said they did not see the need for sanitising the vehicles because, in any case, there was no observation of social distancing for passengers who boarded the vehicles.
They conceded though that such behaviour placed them at a higher risk of contracting the virus.
They said they loaded a total of 12 passengers, which was about 80 per cent and the spacing in between the passengers was hardly one metre.
According to the drivers, government also needed to meet them halfway in providing disinfectants, stating that currently, it was their responsibility to have disinfectants and sanitisers yet their profits had been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“If government provides us with the sanitisers, we will definitely follow the guidelines,” they said. The drivers also lamented the fact that most for them had lost employment but government failed to offer any form of relief for them yet other sectors were being considered.
“Nobody cares about our welfare and nothing really motivates us,which is why we have decided to drop everything,” one of them said.

Lax

They noted that there was so much effort they made in the beginning but they were now becoming lax as they did not get any motivation.
Further, they noted that passengers were also reluctant to have their hands sanitised.
“The passengers bring along their own hand sanitisers, which is why we do not sanitise them,” said another kombi driver.

Mbabane Local Kombi Association’s Ntokozo Nhlabatsi, who is also a public transport operator, said they had taken the position to disinfect all kombis.
Nhlabatsi said the kombis were fumigated twice a week. He said all along, fumigating the vehicles was voluntary but they had made it an obligation to all transport owners.

He said the position to sanitise the vehicles was after they realised that the public transport drivers and conductors were not adhering to the rules which included sanitising the vehicles and passengers.
“We had initially told them to clean the vehicles with soap and water upon reaching every destination,” he said.
Nhlabatsi said there was no way they could monitor their vehicles, hence the reason they decided to disinfect them after every three days.
When reached for comment, Swaziland Local Kombi Association’s Mandla Dlamini said it was wrong for the operators not to stick to the expected guidelines, which included disinfecting the vehicles at all designations upon the alighting of passengers. Dlamini said the passengers were also to be sanitised when they boarded the vehicles.
He said they would investigate the matter.

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