News / National
Zinara to computerise all tollgates
31 Jul 2013 at 23:55hrs | Views
IN a move that will effectively stop motorists from driving unlicenced vehicles on the country's highways, the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) will soon computerise all tollgates.
Computerisation of the 17 tollgates is expected to be completed by the end of September.
The nine toll plazas on the 820km highway from Plumtree to Mutare that are being rehabilitated under the $206 million Infralink project are also using cyber technology.In an interview recently, Zinara human resources and administration manager Mr Precious Murove, said completion of the upgrading of tollgates was expected to coincide with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) handing over running of the facilities to Zinara on 1 October.
"The computerisation programme started on 24 July at the Esbank tollgate in Mazowe. It has been completed and we have already managed to identify a number of motorists who were not on the vehicle registration database and others who have not updated their vehicle licences," said Mr Murove.
He said Zinara was selling licences to motorists through a mobile unit at the tollgate.
"At the moment, those who do not have money are cautioned and it is registered in our system. However, after 1 October, anyone whose vehicle is not registered or does not have a valid licence disc will not be able to drive on the highways," said Mr Murove.
He said Zinara was doing on the job training of tollgate operators in preparation for the changeover from the manual to the digital system.
Mr Murove said his organisation was grateful to Zimra for doing a good job in administering tollgates since their inception.
"Upgrading the system will tie up loose ends and close all loopholes through which money was being lost," he said.
Zinara recently introduced new licence discs with high security features as a measure to plug the production of fake discs.
Counterfeiting was reportedly costing Zinara more than $20 million in potential revenue yearly.
Upgrading the system is also expected to assist in establishing and capturing the actual number of cars on Zimbabwe's roads.
Zinara also revealed that it was collecting about $5 million every year from about 300 000 vehicles, instead of about $40 million from about 800 000 vehicle registered with the Central Vehicle Registry.
Road licence fees are used together with tollgate fees, overload fees and transit fees to maintain the country's roads as well as construct new ones.
The estimated figure of 800 000 vehicles in the country has always been disputed with some people saying the country has more than a million vehicle.
Licence discs, per vehicle per term, are $15 for motorcycles, $20 for small cars.
Owners of vehicles between three and seven tonnes fork out $45 while for vehicles above seven tonnes but below nine tonnes, the discs are $60 and those more than nine tonnes are $75.
Small trailer owners pay $15 and big trailers are charged $40.
Computerisation of the 17 tollgates is expected to be completed by the end of September.
The nine toll plazas on the 820km highway from Plumtree to Mutare that are being rehabilitated under the $206 million Infralink project are also using cyber technology.In an interview recently, Zinara human resources and administration manager Mr Precious Murove, said completion of the upgrading of tollgates was expected to coincide with the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) handing over running of the facilities to Zinara on 1 October.
"The computerisation programme started on 24 July at the Esbank tollgate in Mazowe. It has been completed and we have already managed to identify a number of motorists who were not on the vehicle registration database and others who have not updated their vehicle licences," said Mr Murove.
He said Zinara was selling licences to motorists through a mobile unit at the tollgate.
"At the moment, those who do not have money are cautioned and it is registered in our system. However, after 1 October, anyone whose vehicle is not registered or does not have a valid licence disc will not be able to drive on the highways," said Mr Murove.
He said Zinara was doing on the job training of tollgate operators in preparation for the changeover from the manual to the digital system.
Mr Murove said his organisation was grateful to Zimra for doing a good job in administering tollgates since their inception.
"Upgrading the system will tie up loose ends and close all loopholes through which money was being lost," he said.
Zinara recently introduced new licence discs with high security features as a measure to plug the production of fake discs.
Counterfeiting was reportedly costing Zinara more than $20 million in potential revenue yearly.
Upgrading the system is also expected to assist in establishing and capturing the actual number of cars on Zimbabwe's roads.
Zinara also revealed that it was collecting about $5 million every year from about 300 000 vehicles, instead of about $40 million from about 800 000 vehicle registered with the Central Vehicle Registry.
Road licence fees are used together with tollgate fees, overload fees and transit fees to maintain the country's roads as well as construct new ones.
The estimated figure of 800 000 vehicles in the country has always been disputed with some people saying the country has more than a million vehicle.
Licence discs, per vehicle per term, are $15 for motorcycles, $20 for small cars.
Owners of vehicles between three and seven tonnes fork out $45 while for vehicles above seven tonnes but below nine tonnes, the discs are $60 and those more than nine tonnes are $75.
Small trailer owners pay $15 and big trailers are charged $40.
Source - chronicle
