The government is set to deploy mobile weighbridges in mining areas to curb the overloading of trucks, which is causing significant damage to road infrastructure across the country.
Transport Ministry permanent secretary Joy Makumbe said the problem was particularly serious in mining areas, where heavily loaded trucks were damaging roads designed to carry much lighter loads.
Speaking after a joint meeting of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committees on Transport and Public Accounts at the Parliament Building in Mt Hampden on Monday, Makumbe said she had recently visited a mining area where trucks were carrying loads of up to 70 tonnes on roads designed for a maximum of 30 tonnes.
"As a Zimbabwean citizen, before we talk of enforcement, how do you put such loads on your roads because these roads are yours?" she queried.
"Of course you are doing mining, you are in business. But if you run down that road in two years, what are you going to be travelling on to continue with your business?"
Makumbe appealed to miners and transporters to observe loading limits, warning that overloading was undermining the infrastructure they relied on to conduct business.
She said the Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) had facilities in various areas where operators could have their trucks weighed before setting off.
"We have Vehicle Inspection Department (VID) in all these areas that can do the weighing for you. If you do not have weighing at your mine or at your place of business, the VID can weigh your trucks so that you load appropriately and so that you do not damage the roads," she said.
As an immediate intervention, the Transport Ministry, working with the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA), will deploy weighbridges in motion to mining areas to enforce loading regulations.
Makumbe said ZINARA was also pursuing longer-term measures to strengthen weight enforcement infrastructure.
"In the long term, ZINARA has flighted tenders for repairing weighbridges at the various borders and various toll plazas and also putting in new weighbridges at various sections of the road where they are necessary," she added.
She warned that transporters found violating loading regulations would face hefty fines, with no room for negotiations or payment arrangements.
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"ZINARA will not be taking any negotiations, will not be taking any payment plans. They will just be wanting you to pay. So the best way is just to load responsibly. Let us not be found on the wrong side of the law."
Read the original article on New Zimbabwe.
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