Trucks marooned

By Moombe Hamoobola

A number of trucks were yesterday temporarily marooned at the Livingstone Weigh Bridge causing delays for truckers and congestion for other road users.

A check by a ZNBC news crew found a several trucks stationed, waiting to be cleared at the weigh bridge that is run by the Road Development Agency -RDA.

ERICK DAKA, a trucker, says it is unfortunate that trucks have to sometimes wait for close to two hours to be cleared at the Livingstone weigh bridge, a situation that delays their movement.

Mr. DAKA has urged the Road Development Agency -RDA- to install proper systems that will allow for quick movement of cargo as is the case in neighbouring countries.

Another driver JOSEPH SIACHILIMA has urged the RDA to sometimes allow trucks to just pass when there seems to be a lot of congestion as is the practice in other countries so as not to delay movements.

Mr. SIACHILIMA argued that most of the time, drivers carry slips from other weighbridges where they would have already been cleared within the country and that it is not necessary to subject them to long queues to do what was already done at another weighbridge.

But when contacted for a comment, RDA Acting Director Communications and Corporate Affairs ANTHONY MULOWA attributed the buildup of traffic to a number of trucks being cleared at the same time by the Zambia Revenue Authority.

He however stated that the RDA managed to contain the situation.

Mr. MULOWA added that the existing ban which prohibits heavy goods vehicles from moving in the night sometimes causes buildup of traffic in the morning when many of them are cleared at the same time by ZRA.

He however said the agency is working on introducing weigh-in-motion weighbridges that will weigh trucks without requiring them to stop, especially on the roads being done through Public Private Partnerships.

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