WALVIS BAY – Roads Authority (RA) wants to decriminalise overloading on national roads in a bid to hold companies and drivers directly accountable for damages caused to road infrastructure.
RA wants to reinforce overload control and is currently busy with a legislation, a bill that is currently at the Minister of Works and Transport for further scrutiny before it is presented to Cabinet.
This was revealed by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Roads Authority (RA), Conrad Lutombi, during the opening of a three-day conference on the joint axle load meeting between Namibia and Zambia that is underway at Walvis Bay. This will not only be applicable to Namibians but to all drivers using Namibian roads.
“The idea is to decriminalise overloading on national roads, as a measure to hold the person or company directly accountable for overloading by making such a person directly accountable and carry the actual cost of damage caused by them. Currently, those guilty of overloading are only fined N$3 000,” said Lutombi. He explained that in the case of someone causing damages to roads that cost about N$50 000, the N$3 000 is a slap in the face and ridiculous compared to the actual damage caused to the road.
“In this case, who is paying for the difference of N$47 000? Obviously, the tax payer has to fork out to cover the cost of rehabilitation. Therefore, this is one of the reasons why we want to change the legislation so that whoever causes damage to road infrastructure is held accountable for the exact amount of damages he or she caused,” Lutombi explained.
RA is currently lobbying to make this law a reality. According to Lutombi, this will not only decrease overloading, but also enhance road safety, preserve our roads and make road users more accountable. He says this legislation is currently operational in some countries and that RA wants to lobby that South Africa and Botswana also come on board and apply the same in their countries.
“We want drivers of heavy vehicles to become partners in our roads and become responsible road users. We need to take care of our roads, otherwise we will be passing a burden to the next generation. These roads are meant to last for the next 20 years. However, if we do not protect them we will be forced to spend millions five years from now to rehabilitate our roads,” Lutombi explained.
RA and the Road Development Agency (RDA) of Zambia are currently discussing issues related to overload control between the two neibouring countries. These sessions are a follow-up on the RA’s benchmarking visit to Livingstone, Zambia, in March 2014.