Tue, 28 Mar 2017 10:39:02 +0000
By BENNIE MUNDANDO
THE Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) must consider lifting the suspension of Mazhandu bus services licence once the company meets its benchmark to safeguard the jobs of over 500 workers who have been laid off across the country, Edwin Lifwekelo has advised.
Mr. Lifwekelo told the Daily Nation yesterday that notwithstanding the fact that the company had a poor safety record going by the number of accidents its fleet had been involved in, it was also important to look at the plight of over 500 employees who had become jobless due to the suspension of the licence.
He said there was need for the company and the agency to dialogue by rectifying the company’s shortcomings.
He noted that one of the candid evidence that had come out from all the accidents the company was involved in was over speeding.
“While it is regrettable that a number of lives have been lost in the past through accidents which could have been avoided, it is a fact that most, if not all the crashes involving Mazhandu have occurred due to excessive speed by individual drivers but RTSA must consider lifting the suspension now that there is an SI in place which limits the driving time to eight hours,
“My appeal to RTSA is to strike a balance so that the estimated 500 employees who were laid off following its action can get their jobs back but in doing so, it will entail that Mazhandu seriously takes an undertaking to address the deteriorating road safety record for RTSA to consider lifting the ban,” Mr. Lifwekelo said.
He noted that the suspension of Mazhandu’s licence should serve as a wake-up call to bus operators to seriously put in proper safety measures to safeguard the lives of Zambians who were using their transport.
Last month, RTSA suspended the operating licence for Mazhandu Family Bus Services pending investigations into the recent road traffic accident which claimed 10 people in Kabwe.
The action was arrived at following what RTSA termed as deteriorating road safety records for the company which had remained unchecked despite its fleet of buses getting involved in road accidents from time to time.
