The Plumtree-Mutare highway which was recently refurbished at a cost of $206 million, was the first to benefit from the Government’s programme to upgrade its road network to reduce road accidents. It was hoped that after the completion of the refurbishment, road accidents especially on the busy Harare-Bulawayo highway which is part of the stretch from Plumtree to Mutare, were going to be reduced drastically.
It is therefore disturbing to learn that the highway instead accounted for the highest number of fatal road accidents last year despite the fact that it is the best in terms of navigability. The Harare-Bulawayo highway recorded 569 fatal road accidents representing a 44 percent of the 1 291 road fatalities recorded nationwide in 2016.
A total of 203 fatal accidents were recorded along the Beitbridge-Chirundu highway representing 23 percent of fatalities recorded across the country. The Harare-Bindura and Harare-Murehwa roads recorded 128 and 97 fatal accidents respectively. All urban centres combined recorded 193 fatal accidents.
Speaking during the Driver of the Year National Awards ceremony held in Mutare over the weekend, Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Joram Gumbo said in order to reduce the carnage on our roads, drivers should exercise extreme caution while behind the wheel.
Dr Gumbo who said the country was recording an average of five road accident deaths a day while about 38 people were injured, said drivers should be responsible on the road if the country is to reduce accidents. The Minister said Government was committed to the United Nations Decade of Action for Road Safety which seeks to reduce road accident deaths by 50 percent by the year 2020.
He said this can only be achieved if drivers play their part of observing traffic rules and regulations. Dr Gumbo said Government on its part was spending millions of dollars to upgrade its road network so that the roads are navigable. Government apart from spending $206 million to refurbish the Plumtree-Mutare highway, recently completed the erection of 162km fence on either side of the Bulawayo-Gweru highway as part of measures to reduce carnage on the country’s roads caused by stray livestock.
The project undertaken by the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe at a cost of $500 000, is the first phase of the project to fence off major highways to prevent animals from straying onto the highways. Road accidents which used to be prevalent between Gweru and Bulawayo should now be a thing of the past following the completion of the fencing project on this stretch of the highway.
People living along the highway should ensure that the gates are closed all the time so that no animal strays on the highway. What we have witnessed so far is that some of the gates are left open and as such cattle and donkeys continue to stray onto the highway. Community leaders such as village heads, and councillors should put mechanisms in place to enforce the new system of ensuring gates are kept closed all the time to prevent accidents that may lead to loss of human lives and livestock.
Motorists on their part should not be excited and speed because the road is now good. Drivers should always ensure that they drive at safe speeds despite that the road now is very navigable. Government should prioritise the allocation of money to complete the fencing of the remaining stretch of the Plumtree-Mutare highway so that no animal strays onto this refurbished highway.
We want to once again implore drivers to drive at safe speeds while farmers living along the high should ensure no animal strays onto the road.