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A lot of ground has been covered in the rehabilitation of the 820km highway from Plumtree to Mutare. The stretch between Plumtree and Gweru is in fact almost complete with just final touches left on sections between Bulawayo and Gweru.
The completion of work on the Plumtree-Gweru stretch was expected to drastically reduce accidents as in the past the poor state of the road was blamed for most accidents. What is however disturbing is that it seems there is an increase in accidents especially between Bulawayo and Gweru since the completion of major works on this stretch of the road.
Only last Friday, seven people died on the spot after being struck by a vehicle near Kombo Village, about 40km from Shangani Business Centre. Last month, five police officers died when a commuter omnibus they were travelling in burst a rear tyre and overturned on approaching Vungu River Bridge near Gweru.
Last December, a luxury coach collided head on with a haulage truck killing eight people near Lochard Business Centre, about 60km from Bulawayo on the same highway.
The increasing number of accidents is largely blamed on speeding now that the road is in good state. What this confirms is that most accidents are as a result of human error which means they can be avoided.
It is against this background that we want to appeal to motorists to exercise caution given that both sides of the Bulawayo-Gweru highway or Bulawayo-Plumtree highway, are dotted with human settlements hence the many livestock that stray onto the highway.
The rehabilitation of the 820km stretch of the highway from Plumtree to Mutare which is estimated to cost $206 million is meant to reduce the carnage on our roads. It is government’s intention to rehabilitate most major highways as part of measures to reduce road accidents. Accidents statistics on the near complete highway stretch between Bulawayo and Gweru are a bit worrying as they show an upsurge in roads accidents.
The accidents, as already stated, are largely as a result of speeding while stray livestock have also contributed to some of the accidents. The Zimbabwe National Roads Administration has already mooted plans to erect a border fence along the major highways to prevent livestock from straying onto the highways. The local communities will then be tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that this fence is not vandalised.
We want to implore Zinara to move with speed to erect this fence especially in sections of the highways that have already been rehabilitated. The families settled along the highways on their part should ensure that this fence once erected is not vandalised.
It is also the responsibility of the families to ensure no animals stray onto the roads as they await the erection of the fence.
We want to once against appeal to motorists to reduce speed especially at night to avoid the unnecessary loss of lives.
derick.khumalo