daniel chigunwe
Rejoice Makoni
Herald Correspondent
Community leaders must take responsibility to protect public infrastructure in their areas, Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Felix Mhona said during the launch of the Southern Africa Railways Association safety week hosted by the National Railways of Zimbabwe yesterday at Paiseley Road Level Crossing in Harare.
There was also need for people to obey traffic rules as the number of level crossing accidents has risen to 32, with four deaths in the first six months of the year. This was caused by drivers who tried to beat a train about to cross in front of them.
In a speech read on his behalf by Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development director of human resources Mr Murungweni, Minister Mhona said people should be keepers of infrastructure in their communities.
“Communities need to be involved in the protection of public infrastructure in their localities. Local leadership, including traditional leaders should protect infrastructure that passes through their areas. Activities such as illegal gold mining within the railway reserve and theft of track equipment have potential to cause derailments of trains, hence it is essential we jealously guard this infrastructure,” he said.
“The threat to the existence of railways is coming from a few citizens who are vandalising rail infrastructure, stealing signalling equipment and embarking on illegal mining activities within the railway reserve. We must be keepers of infrastructure in our communities. It might belong to the NRZ, ZESA or TelOne, but as communities you also benefit from it and if the infrastructure is destroyed you will also suffer, as all Government infrastructure belongs to all of us. It is time for us to have corporate ownership as a people, community and be progressive.”
Minister Mhona said it was worrying that there was an increase in railway accidents in the first half of the year compared to the same period last year.
“We cannot afford to have any avoidable accidents whereby vehicle get hit by trains and people get crushed when they fail to observe rules and signs along the tracks. I am told that in the first six months of the year, there has been a marked increase in railway accidents compared to last year from 24 to 32.
“Robust measures need to be taken by the Government, NRZ, road safety advocates and other stakeholders to bring an end to this scourge which has claimed many lives over the years. Most of these accidents are caused by human error. Drivers of both public service vehicles and private cars are ignoring laws meant to prevent level crossing accidents, while cases of people being hit by trains while walking or sleeping on tracks have been reported.”
The SARA safety week is running under the theme “Safety begins with your attitude, always be careful” and is set to end on Friday.
NRZ acting general manager Aina Dube Kaguru said there was need for increased funding for maintenance and rehabilitation of the railway sector.
“Paisley Road is one of the busiest level crossings not only in Harare but in the country. It has also had its fair share of level crossing accidents as motorists ignore road regulations specified in the Road Traffic Act and try to race to beat approaching trains.
“We have decided to return to this place this year again because drivers’ attitude has not changed as we continue to record crashes at this level crossing. So far this year, we have recorded 32 level crossing accidents in which four people were killed compared to 24 last year which resulted in two deaths, while 2021 had 10 accidents with one death,” she said.
“As NRZ, we will continue to work with other partners to eliminate accidents at level crossings and everywhere else on the tracks.
“We take the issue of railway safety seriously and our goal is to have zero accidents. This can only happen if we all work together and motorists abide by the law.”
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