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A REGIONAL electronic Corridor Trip Monitoring System (CTMS) for countries in Sadc, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa as well as the East African Community has been developed to record drivers’ wellness data when crossing borders.
The wellness data will cover testing for Covid-19 pandemic, which since its outbreak has claimed more than 800 000 lives globally while 23 million people have been infected.
The deadly respiratory disease was first detected in China last December before spreading to other continents.
In a statement, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) said the CTMS will also enable operators to track the driver, crew and truck movements against a pre-approved route plan.
“A regional electronic CTMS, which will allow cross-border road transport operators, drivers, regulators and law enforcement agencies to record and monitor driver wellness data such as Covid-19 test results, has been approved by the tripartite (Sadc, Comesa and EAC) group,” it said. The CTMS is supported by the prevailing legal and regulatory framework existing at regional and national level, which include Regional Electronic Cargo (REC) Treaties, Protocols and Agreements, Corridor Agreements, Bilateral Road Transport Agreements as well as National Covid-19 regulations being implemented by tripartite member or partner States.
It is hoped that the system will eventually be reinforced by the legal provisions in the Tripartite Multilateral Cross-Border Road Transport Agreement adopted by the Tripartite Sectoral Ministerial Committee on Infrastructure held in Lusaka last October.
Comesa secretariat director of infrastructure Mr Baptiste Mutabazi revealed in Lusaka recently that the CTMS will enable operator, vehicle and driver information to be readily available along regional transport corridors at the roadside and at border posts to all regulatory and law enforcement agencies.
“The CTMS is an immediate remedial response to the Covid-19 pandemic and its use will in future be further enhanced through the Tripartite Transport Registers and Information Platform System (TRIPS), which is now under development as a corridor performance management tool for smart corridors,” he said.
Mr Mutabazi said the CTMS was being developed and deployed in a phased manner and was first released in June this year. It will be piloted on a section of the Trans Kalahari Corridor that is Botswana, Namibia and South Africa, a section of the Walvis Bay Namibia-Ndola Zambia-Kasumbalesa DRC Corridor and a section of the North-South Corridor that is South Africa, Botswana, Zambia up to Kasumbalesa Border post.
Thereafter, the CTMS will be rolled out to other corridors in the Tripartite region based on Member States preparedness. According to transport experts at Comesa secretariat, a number of activities have been undertaken in preparation for piloting and roll out of the CTMS, which include presenting it to Comesa member States in June, to EAC partner States in July and to Sadc member States also in June this year.
The CTMS will in future be integrated with the EAC Regional Electronic Cargo Tracking System, which has been enhanced to include driver tracking and is being piloted in East African region.
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