By REBECCA MUSHOTA and KASONDE KASONDE –
COMMUNICATIONS and Transport Minister Brian Mushimba has signed the revision to the Statutory Instrument (SI) 76 of 2016 that lifts the ban on trucks moving at night.
Mr Mushimba signed the revision of the SI that separates trucks from the buses on Monday evening.
“The revision to SI 76 that has separated PSVs (Public Service
Vehicles) from trucks is meant to give an opportunity to trucks that carry cargo to operate 24 hours a day,” he said.
Mr Mushimba said the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) would set minimum conditions that trucks had to fulfill in order to operate at night.
He said the SI had gone for gazetting after which trucks would be allowed to move at night.
Mr Mushimba said Government had engaged in an exhaustive consultation process before making changes to the SI.
“We feel the road transport sector is trending in the right direction in terms of safety and this is because of the measures we have put in place,” he said.
And RTSA has said that following the revision of Statutory Instrument (SI) Number 76 of 2016 on night ban, the agency had set conditions for freight operators to enhance road safety.
RTSA chief executive officer Zindaba Soko said freight operators needed to fit trucks with Global Positioning System (GPS).
Mr Soko said the operators also had to put up the driver tagging systems that would be able to control driver fatigue and driver hours.
He said the agency would intensify compliance patrols to ensure that there was safety on the roads and freight operators were adhering to the laid down rules and regulations.
Mr Soko said the agency would also employ a zero tolerance policy on the goods vehicles to detect them from carrying passengers like the trucks carrying passengers that put the public at risk who hike the trucks as their core business was freight.
“If any freight operator is found carrying passengers and abrogating the conditions set by the agency, we will be left with no option but to revoke their licence,” Mr Soko said.