TRANSPORT Minister Nicholas Goche has announced he is indefinitely suspending a proposed ban on the importation of second hand vehicles, as exclusively revealed on New Zimbabwe.com last week.
Goche’s announcement on Tuesday ends months of uncertainty caused by the regulations which were set to take effect early next month.
The minister said last night: “We have been persuaded to suspend this aspect of the Statutory Instrument. So the proposed ban on the importation of vehicles that are five years old and above has been suspended.
"The ban on the importation of left hand vehicles will remain, but we have made a concession that those vehicles already in the country will remain on the roads."
The government had said the ban on second hand car imports was aimed at protecting the environment and ensuring only roadworthy vehicles were on the roads.
But Goche admitted on Tuesday that banning the second had vehicle imports while the country’s car manufacturing industry is virtually dead and the economy in the doldrums would be unjustifiable.
The ban will stay until the economy improves, he added.
"We thought the motor industry would have improved [when policy was unveiled in 2009] as well and producing more vehicles, but we realised that improvement has been slight," Goche said.
"We had also hoped that banks and other financial institutions would make money available for capitalisation because there is still a liquidity crunch -- industry, commerce and individuals don't have the money.”
Thousands of Zimbabweans had raced to beat the ban, and the rush was earning the cash-strapped government nearly US$15 million monthly in import duty fees since the start of the year.