THE Kitwe-Ndola dual carriageway came under the spotlight last week for the wrong reasons when it was reported that 13 people had died there in a road traffic accident near Kamfinsa stream.
This was when a Ndola bound 26-seater Rosa minibus with people on board collided with a truck laden with bags of mealie-meal at about14 00hours on Tuesday, March 11, 2014.
The accident left several others injured as they were trapped in the minibus which was crushed beyond repair.
This platform has in the past tackled the issue of road accidents before with the great North Road that links Lusaka, Central and the Copperbelt provinces as the case-in-point.
In that edition a month ago, I shared with the readers what was required to be done by everyone concerned about the safety of our roads in this country.
A key observation in that write-up was that there is just a one-lane route between Ndola and Lusaka.
This means that there is no clear demarcation separating vehicles moving from north to south and vice versa.
The lack of a dual carriageway there has spelt doom for users of the Great North road as especially the stretch between Lusaka and Kapiri has become prone to road traffic accidents.
Barely a month after that publication, the same concern raised then, has come back to haunt the nation as the lack of a dual carriageway in some areas of the Kitwe-Ndola road has claimed precious lives.
The accident in question today happened on the stretch where one way of the dual carriageway has been closed for rehabilitation works.
Vehicles are only left with one side to transit and this has turned out to be a recipe for congestion resulting into accidents.
According to sources, some portions of the Kitwe-Ndola dual Carriageway are undergoing rehabilitation to ensure a balance with other parts of the road which are still in good shape.
This maintenance exercise has been going on for more than six months now and one wonders if it should take this long to work on selected parts of the road.
On several occasions this year, I have travelled along that road and to my observation, the works on those selected parts of the thoroughfare have been nothing but shoddy.
The contractor has been almost elusive, out of site, only leaving ushers controlling the flow of traffic, directing where one needs to take a corner left or right.
It is time something was done, unfortunately again why does something only have to be done after a tragedy?
Families of the deceased have lost bread winners as the nation has been robbed of potential leaders yet again, through the cold hand of road carnage.
The ministry of Transport must look into ongoing road development critically to ensure efficiency in works.
Has the minister of Transport, his two deputies or indeed his permanent secretary even taken time to visit the Kitwe-Ndola road to check on the progress of works there?
There should be no excuse at all. There is no way that all the top officials from the Ministry of Transport and the province at large are not aware of the progress on a busy road such as this one.
Another source of concern is the Solwezi road which is also just one lane from start to finish.
Now, towns like Solwezi are currently undergoing serious economic resurgence which will result in increased population of people and motor vehicles.
This is the time that authorities in charge of transport should facilitate the expansion of the road to avoid accidents in the future.
Investors developing Solwezi should also have keen interest in this exercise and collaborate with Government to improve the road network in the area.
The Road Development Agency (RDA) needs to be more proactive with inspections on road works, especially those on the inter-city scale.
Link Zambia 8000 and other programmes are way in progress now and RDA must not be idle but monitor them efficiently.
A surviving victim from the Kitwe-Ndola road carnage narrated to the media that the driver of the mini-bus was speeding, causing the vehicle to lose control.
The Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) should plant agents in all bus stations with breathalysers to detect the amount of alcohol in the drivers who handle inter-city and local buses.
Driving under the influence of alcohol should not be condoned and RTSA must raise its sensitisation campaign for local drivers to understand the dangers of driving by the control of beer.
This should also be extended to driving schools and in fact, courses on the dangers of driving under the influence of alcohol should be part of the study curriculum in driving school.
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