Malawians decry the state of Lilongwe Bus Depot: Capital City is dirty all over

Lilongwe’s bus terminal is the hub of transportation for the Capital City but it is in such a sorry sight of late that Malawians  have expressed their disappointments through social media.

Concerned citizen Bernard Ambali posted pictures of the sorry state of affairs of the bus terminal with a caption that read: “Who owns or manages Lilongwe Bus Terminal? This facility is in desperate need of a complete overhaul! Just like our International Airports, we need facilities that are “welcoming” to our visitors!”

In response, Sam Hobbie said: “Not just visitors, even us as users of the facility! Whatever happened to aesthetics in the services and facilities on offer in this horrible place!”

Franciwell Phiri said: “Every time you drive into Lilongwe Bus Terminal, there is [someone] at the outlet collecting money from any car that passes through that gate. [They] collect money but not provide [services] for customers. This is the sickness of business providers in this country. The mentality of rip off still strong. For how can you collect money yet you cant provide for your  customer? And as usual the city council is very happy with the service.

“In Malawi now we rush to own, because owning is power. But nobody takes responsibility. Very sad. Even the schools that gave us decent education — well run then —  are collapsing, everyone is blaming the other. If you look closely, it’s all about mismanagement,” Franciwell said.

Synowden Mbalafana said this is typical of Lilongwe City which seems not to care as long as it still collects revenue from it.

“The City is dirty all over, the streets, the markets, the locations etc etc. Anywhere and every there is [no] dumping site, nobody cares. Yet down South, Blantyre (Limbe inclusive), life of a glittering city is fast coming back. Very clean and orderly day and night. I don’t know who to blame but one thing is for sure, the leadership that should have been in the forefront lack vision because their eyes are on money now. This is a city I  call my home which was once beautiful.”

Mbachazwa Lungu said: “This [terminal] used to be a clean facility in those UTM/Stagecoach days. Have they gotten to this state? Something needs to be done indeed. it is an eyesore. I consider Kigali [Rwanda] the cleanest city in Africa. Every taxi/minibus has a waste bin inside. We should learn from them to keep our surroundings tidy.”

Enock Nyimbiri said it seems the decision makers don’t use these facilities and thus they do not notice the state of the terminal.

“They lavish in their luxurious state of the art government vehicles while the masses are being subjected to these dehumanizing conditions. Because we are who we are, there isn’t much we can do about it. Someday, someone will take note. Where is the Mayor of this city?”

Robert Whte said : “Apparently, the higher we go on the ladder the less concerned we become of the issues that the majority of the people face. I agree with Enock [Nyimbiri] that decision makers don’t use these facilities but I also don’t remember the last day I used such facilities, even though I used to use them a lot in my school and college days.

“It seems to me the higher we rise, the less interested we become on developmental problems affecting our people.”

Praise Kafulatira said its not just the case of Lilongwe but also in Blantyre.

“This country is surely on the verge of collapse,” he said.