By Sharon Tawuya
Harare, (New Ziana) -The Zimbabwe government has launched a crackdown on overloaded trucks which are destroying roads designed to carry far less weight.
The permanent secretary for the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Engineer Joy Makumbe, said this in an interview with the media after presenting oral evidence before a joint Parliamentary Portfolio Committee.
The Public Accounts Committee, together with the Portfolio Committee on Transport and Infrastructural Development, held joint oral evidence hearing with the Ministry and the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) on Monday, focusing on the governance, contractual arrangements and operational efficiency of tolling in Zimbabwe.
Eng Makumbe said Zimbabwe’s roads are designed to carry 30 tons, yet committee members were shocked during a weekend visit to a mining area to find trucks loaded to up to 70 tonnes.
“Firstly, just as a citizen, just as a Zimbabwean, how do you put such loading on your roads because these roads are yours? You are Zimbabwean, you are in business, but if you run down that road in two years, what are you going to be travelling on to continue with your business?” she asked.
She said before enforcement, citizens should take responsibility for protecting infrastructure that other Zimbabweans were working to put in place to achieve an upper middle-income economy by 2030.
“Without road connectivity, we cannot look at economic development of this country. So, my first appeal is that people should just load responsibly,” she said.
The Vehicle Inspectorate Department (VID) is available in all areas to weigh trucks, including for mines and businesses that do not have their own weighbridges, to ensure trucks are loaded appropriately and do not damage roads.
As an immediate action plan, Eng Makumbe said her Ministry, together with ZINARA will go out to all mining areas with weighbridges in motion to ensure and enforce that all trucks are loaded according to the regulations.
Eng Makumbe said there was significant progress on maintenance of weighbridges.
In the long term, ZINARA has flighted tenders to repair weighbridges at various borders and toll plazas and to install new weighbridges at toll plazas and other strategic sections of road.
The government is also working with Mutapa Investment Fund to resuscitate rail so that bulk goods can be moved off road.
“When the rail has been resuscitated, we are going to have an SI whereby we are saying that all goods that are on the road should be on rail and there will be severe penalties for any goods that we find on the road,” Eng Makumbe said.
She warned that offenders will face hefty fines, with no negotiations or payment plans from ZINARA.
“The best way is just for you to load responsibly. Let’s not be found on the wrong side of the law,” she said.
New Ziana
