Burzil Dube “As I take the office, there are a number of issues to be addressed, especially on the state of our roads. One of the solutions that my ministry is working on is calling on involved parties to participate in decongesting our roads.
“We can do this by moving heavy cargo from the road to rail.”
These words were said by Felix Mhona, the Transport and Infrastructural Development minister, following his appointment to cabinet last year during a tour of National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) workshops in Bulawayo as part of a familiarisation expedition.
The country’s sole railway operator is doddering due to viability challenges. NRZ’s yesteryear glory in both passenger and freight services is gradually destined to a pale shadow of its former glory.
Most of the country’s major highways are in a deplorable state and this has been attributed to haulage trucks whose damage to roads and the environment is alarming, hence the call by responsible authorities for remedial action.
Human lives have also been lost due to accidents, some attributed to haulage vehicles, which are major contributors to the traffic jungle whose “taming” might remain a pipe dream.
Government has to be commended for the rehabilitation of the Beitbridge-Harare highway, which is one of the busiest within southern Africa.
Last year, the government embarked on an ambitious highway restoration programme under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Phase 2, which resulted in thousands of kilometres being rehabilitated.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
However, the ambitious programme had its downside effects as some contractors provided shoddy services, which left local authorities crying foul after being short-changed.
This “criminality” has not been limited to local authorities’ roads, but also to major highways whose contractors’ handiwork is an embarrassment to the travelling and touring public, especially the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road which is once again pothole-ridden.
It is public knowledge that Victoria Falls city is the country’s prime tourist destination and is adjacent to the acclaimed Hwange National Park in Dete. Most tourists from this new city prefer travelling by road to the game reserve and your guess is good as mine on current status of this busy highway and its effect on the hospitality industry.
Last year, Yours Truly managed to interview Mangaliso Ndlovu, the Tourism, Environment and Climate Change minister who admitted to having used this particular road and promised to engage his cabinet counterpart on the matter.
And true to his assurance there was massive filling of potholes which were proving to be an eyesore and hindrance to the travelling public.
However, the whole exercise proved to be a wild goose chase as more “craters” sprouted and are now an embarrassment to the tourism industry.
There have also been calls from certain quarters to ban or limit movement of haulage trucks and fully utilise the NRZ as part of efforts to save the country’s roads from further deterioration.
In Zambia, these haulage trucks were banned in 2016 from travelling at night following about 2 000 deaths in that single particular year.
However, the prohibition order was lifted four years later following a negative impact on the country’s economy as well as an outcry from captains of industry.
Buses remained banned from night travelling even to this day and news reaching Yours Truly desk is that this particular move has proved to be effective as bus accidents have been drastically reduced.
Such a plan on haulage trucks and night driving was nearly implemented in our local roads, but suffered a still birth.
Yours Truly would have been roasted alive if he were to advocate for similar implementation of such an exercise on the country’s buses whose night driving is gradually becoming prevalent as some passengers consider it to be more convenient.
However, there is need to complement government efforts on this war against potholes and together it can be achieved.
Till we meet again in the next mail.
- Comments always welcome on: [email protected] or Twitter@DubeBurzil
