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The second most celebrated holiday in the country after Christmas is on this week. Road traffic will, as it always does over the period, rise sharply from today as people move to various places across the country to commemorate the Easter Holiday.
Good Friday, when Christians celebrate the crucifixion of Jesus, is tomorrow and Sunday is when they celebrate His resurrection. The following day is Easter Monday when people return to their bases. This therefore means we are, once again, in for a long weekend which is marked worldwide in prayer, partying, travelling, holidaying or just resting at home.
As we observe the break, we encourage our people not to forget why it exists. It is a time to remember the immense suffering that Christ endured for humanity and the triumph that came with his rise. This means we are mourning, yes, but ultimately celebrating, prayerfully.
We must therefore be as responsible over this period as we must be. To those of us who are travelling away from their homes over the long break, we preach extreme caution on the roads. Drivers must not speed.
They must observe road rules and obey lawful orders from police. They, too, must make sure that their vehicles are roadworthy. We say this because the country tends to record a high number of road accidents over the Easter period, as we do over the Christmas and Heroes holidays. We don’t want police to, once again this year, give us the gory news on the death toll, injuries and so on.
Motorists must not drink and drive. Alcohol is a master, which is why it intoxicates and the drinker obeys its command. A vehicle is yet another master, which can take you to your destination, but can maim, even kill as well. Yet, no one can serve two masters effectively. Therefore, we urge motorists to take a decision to serve one master, which is the vehicle and serve the other when they are have reached their destination.
But some road accidents happen because of misbehaving passengers or pedestrians. We urge them to obey the rules too so we have a safe holiday.
Home security is essential over this long weekend, especially for those who will be away and those who would be at home after some partying. Criminals always comb their targets first before they strike the vulnerable ones. So those who will be away from home must get a trusted person to be at home in their absence or invest in automated security. Criminals can, too, take advantage of people using public transport. They can pick pockets, grab luggage and so on. Therefore, we urge all to be vigilant.
We are hopeful that the measures that police, the immigration department and other arms of Government normally institute to ensure law and order as well as safe travelling will work. Beitbridge Border Post, a sore thumb in the past, must offer a seamless service this time as the Government, through a private partner, has built a bigger and more modern facility.
In addition to the more modern and spacious physical premises, the immigration and customs departments have told us that they have put in place measures in readiness for the busy weekend, including deploying more staff.
We look forward to an exciting, safe, prayerful and crime-free holiday.
Online Reporter