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Richard Muponde, Plumtree Correspondent
THE Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) is mooting setting up committees that will protect the highway fence that has been erected along the Plumtree – Harare highway from theft and vandalism.
The committees will superintend over the Plumtree- Bulawayo and Bulawayo- Harare highway fence which are the two projects the parastatal has completed.
This followed reports of theft and vandalism of the fence along the Bulawayo- Harare highway which were refuted by TSCZ saying it has only been damaged by vehicles that veer off the road.
TSCZ managing director, Mr Obio Chinyere said they would soon set up committees which would take care of the fence and guard against theft and vandalism.
“We are most likely to set up three committees which will safeguard the fence from vandalism and thefts. They will also be responsible for the gates to make sure that no livestock gets into the road. This is the only way we can safeguard the fence so that we save lives on the roads,” said Mr Chinyere.
He said his organisation was also preaching ownership of the fence by communities it passes through since it was erected using tax payer’s money.
“It’s their fence. We should preach ownership so that they know that it’s their money which bought the fence. Even yourself you have a fraction of your money on that fence. There’s nothing called government fence, it belongs to the people and they should safeguard it,” he said.
“There’s nothing like that. It’s not theft. I drove through on Monday and realised that the damages were caused by vehicles and we are going to rectify that,” said Mr Chinyere.
After receiving the reports of the damages last week, Chief Jahana said people who were vandalising the fence were doing that at night and suggested night patrols.
He said it was important for communities to appreciate the fence was not meant to just reduce accidents but to also protect their livestock.
The Plumtree- Bulawayo fencing project started as a normal project last year and was elevated to a 100-day plan project in February.
The $320 000 fencing project was supposed to have been completed at the end of December but was delayed due to wanton price hikes of fencing materials.
The price hikes madness prompted Government to give the parastatal the green light to import the required materials directly from South Africa.
The TSCZ embarked on the highway fencing project last year as part of measures to reduce accidents on the country’s highways caused by stray animals.
The highway fencing programme started with the erection of the Bulawayo-Gweru Highway fence.
A number of people have died on the country’s highways in accidents caused by animals that stray onto the roads. — @richardmuponde
Online Reporter