Message of Goodwill to HH – Zambia’s Roads Sector Require Reforms
Mthoniswa Banda in Zambia
By Mthoniswa Banda
Group Admin – Zambia Roads & Highway Safety Group (ZRHSG)
+260977 405086
Lusaka 26/08/21 – THE Zambian Roads & Highway Safety Group (ZRHSG) would like to express its message of goodwill to President Hakainde Hichilema for being elected 7th Republican President of Zambia and for the United Party for National Development (UPND) for emerging victorious in the just ended General and Presidential elections.
The Highway Safety Group wishes President HH and the UPND success in their term of office.
The Highway Safety Group is pleased to note that President HH is a proponent of a free market economy in which the wheels of the economy operate in a 24-hour economy without unnecessary roadblocks and that he proposes that the Zambian economy be transformed into such.
The Highway Safety Group understands that for that to happen the Zambian Transport sector would require urgent reforms in the manner our roads and highways are designed, constructed, monitored, managed and constantly repaired.
The Highway Safety Group is of the view that many of the road accidents and deaths that have occurred in Zambia in the last few years are as a result of a poor road infrastructure comprising of narrow highways, pot holed and uneven damaged roads and poorly marked roads that make driving on these roads a risky undertaking.
The Highway Safety Group also notes that most of the cars currently on Zambian roads are imported second and third hand cars that require even much better roads than where they came from.
The Highway Safety Group also notes that the railway sector in Zambia has remained poorly managed, risky and too slow for modern economies and has led to many heavy goods transporters like the mines opting to use our roads to transport goods that would normally would have been transported by rail.
These heavy goods trucks and long distance buses were stopped from driving at night and therefore create heavy congestion on our roads during the day.
The Highway Safety Group also notes that several critical roads throughout the country have remained un safe and prone to accidents without the government agencies such as the Road Development Agency, National Road Fund, Road Transport Safety Agency tasked with managing these roads doing anything about their status.
The Highway Safety Group is therefore calling for expansion of all busy highways from the current two lanes to four or more lanes starting with the Great North Road from Livingstone to the Copperbelt in the long term and that overtaking lanes be placed in all dangerous spots on most of the highways to save lives.
The Highway Safety Group is also calling for the extension of the Kavungula-Sesheke- Mongu Rd to link it up with Solwezi thereby creating an alternative route to the Copperbelt from down South.
The Highway Safety Group is also proposing sector wide reforms to ensure transport sector is well managed to facilitate for a safer, faster and efficient hustle free movement and transportation of goods and services through the harmonisation of operations of existing transport and road safety agencies in Zambia.
These reforms must include the improvement and expansion of the railways sector so that railway transport becomes an alternative transport between any two big towns beginning with Lusaka and its neighbouring towns of Chongwe in the East and Mumbwa in the West.
These reforms must also look in the short term the management of highway toll fees so these are shared with local councils who will in turn ensure that stretches of the highway passing through their jurisdiction are well maintained, and that damages on these roads are fixed within the shortest times possible and that local companies be given contracts to remove broken down vehicles in the highway and to keep these roads safe and clear of obstacles.
Signed: EJMB
Mthoniswa Banda
Group Admin – Zambia Roads & Highway Safety Group (ZRHSG)
+260977 405086
………………………………
Background Information
The Zambian Roads & Highway Safety Group (ZRHSG) is a registered not-for-profit road safety and road health group with over 8,000 members who advocate for improved road safety and road network in Zambia.
The Group offers online platforms for group member to share personal traveling experiences and knowledge on road safety issues in Zambia.
These discussions help identify road safety issues, bad policies and bad road designs requiring improvement by government and its agencies such as RTSA, RDA, NRFA, ZP and local councils.
Periodically, the ZRHSG will produce a statement summarising the group discussion and sharing this opinion with Road Safety agencies and other policy makers so they improve Zambia’s Road Safety.
The Group also has awareness and capacity building programmes for keeping road users safe and healthy while on the Zambian roads.
Prepared and Issued by
…………………………….
Mthoniswa Banda Consultancy Ltd
Consultants at favourable media and public relations www.facebook.com/MthoniswaB
………………………………………………………………………..
