Chipata Municipal Council says it will not stop charging bus operators the 150 Kwacha monthly road levy.
Chipata Municipal Council Public Relations Officer, Taonga Kaonga told Breeze News that it is the duty of every bus operator to pay the levy, which is used for services such as road maintenance.
Ms. Kaonga says the bus operators told the council in a meeting yesterday that they should be allowed to start paying the road levy on a daily basis but the local authority refused.
She added that the issue of constructing a bus station for short route bus operators is still under discussion and the drivers will be addressed on the matter on Wednesday next week.
Ms. Kaonga also says that the local authority has put up ten bus stops in Chipata but some of them have become invisible due to the road construction works.
Meanwhile Ms. Kaonga denied allegations from the bus operators that the council is charging them a penalty fee of 450 Kwacha for wrong parking saying that it is not the duty of the council to charge motorists for any wrong doing on the roads.
She was commenting on a matter where short route bus operators in Chipata yesterday protested at the council demanding for the removal of the Road levy, which they said does not benefit them due to lack of a station and bus stops.