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Whinsley Masara, Chronicle Reporter
THE Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ) has commissioned a traffic training centre in Bulawayo.
North Park Traffic Training Centre along 4th Avenue Extension is designed to train road users- especially children aged between four and eight years- how to safely navigate through traffic either on foot or bicycle.
The Minister of Transport and Infrastructural Development Dr Joram Gumbo last Friday said the centre has an advantage of providing both theory and practical lessons to children.
“It is a simulated road environment where children can learn to use the road safely and responsibly without being exposed to life threatening traffic hazards. We are making all these efforts because school children normally use the road as pedestrians, cyclists and passengers. This explains why the TSCZ has embarked on a programme to resuscitate traffic training centres countrywide to educate them to be safe and responsible road users,” he said.
Dr Gumbo said the rehabilitation of existing and development of new traffic training centres is one of his ministry’s key result areas for this year. “The rehabilitation of this centre is indeed a huge step towards achieving the United Nations goal of reducing the carnage on our roads by 50 percent by the year 2020.
“It is indisputable that no nation that is focused on achieving this international goal can afford to ignore vulnerable road users especially the four to seven year olds targeted by this Traffic Training Centre. The concept of catching them young in road safety is a tried and tested idea that has worked, both regionally and internationally,” he said.
The centre, which was non- functional for some time, was rehabilitated by Arenel Private Limited.
Dr Gumbo thanked Arenel for partnering with the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe in coming up with such a life saving project.
“The essence of establishing such Traffic Training Centres is not for the fulfilment of a target, but a global best practice issue in road safety education.
“While most of the road safety education we conduct relies on theory, research shows that practice or experience is the best teacher. Accordingly, the development of the traffic training centres signifies a marriage of road safety theory to practice and experience,” he said.
Dr Gumbo said as enunciated in government’s ten-point plan for economic growth and recovery, the cultivation of Public- Private Partners (PPPs) in road safety infrastructure development projects like this North park Traffic Training Centre is a vital cog for success.
“I would like to make a clarion call to other progressive individual and private sector players to partner government in efforts to develop enabling road safety education infrastructure. The TSCZ is just a lead agency in terms of our road safety partnerships, collaboration and coordination.”
Speaking during the function, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Engineer George Mlilo warned school children against suicides.
“This occasion is meant to save lives of you children but when you then take your own lives, you are putting us to a harder task. Our mandate is to safeguard human lives and we say zero tolerance to suicide.
“We don’t want to ever learn from the media that any one of you here has killed themselves. During our times, suicide was a scary and an unusual thing to do but now, you pupils are taking life for granted and so may this come to an end,” he said.
@winnie_masara
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