News / National
Zinara impounds unlicensed vehicles
18 Mar 2013 at 00:56hrs | Views
THE Zimbabwe National Road Administration has impounded 432 vehicles in Harare in a blitz targeting cars without valid licence discs.
Zinara, police and the Vehicle Inspection Department are carrying out a blitz to enforce payment of vehicle licences following the realisation that less than 50 percent of the country's 800 000 vehicles are registered with Zinara.
Zinara head of administration and human resources Mr Precious Murove said the blitz, which began on March 7, had netted 780 vehicles by March 13.
"Out of that number, 348 motorists paid their licence fees on the spot. We impounded the remainder," he said.
To ease pressure on motorists, Zinara has deployed mobile vehicle licence registration teams along major highways leading in and out of Harare.
Mr Murove said for now, the programme was around Harare, but would soon be rolled out countrywide.
He said Zinara had agreed with Harare City Council to do the blitz in the Central Business District where parked vehicles would be checked for compliance.
"Those without vehicle licence discs would be clamped and towed away," he said.
Mr Murove said only 432 000 vehicles were actively registered on the Zinara database, but of that number only 348 000 have valid licence discs implying that 83 500 vehicle owners have not renewed the licences.
If these vehicles pay up, Zinara would raise over US$3.8 million.
Late payment attracts a 100 percent fine and a US$5 administration fee.
"This has prompted us to ensure Zinara impounds unlicensed vehicles that these defaulters must be brought to book. We are doing this exercise because our database has only 50 percent of the national vehicle population. We cannot allow such a big number of vehicles to use our roads for free," he said.
Mr Murove said Zinara was also checking on the validity of transit coupons for foreign registered haulage trucks.
Each of the vehicles pays US$10 for every 100km travelled, but some of the operators have been understating their distances and recycling the transit coupons.
This resulted in the reduction of monthly incomes.
In 2011 the monthly average was US$1.3 million while in 2012 the amount fell to US$1 million.
"We have discovered that 10 percent of the haulage trucks are recycling their transit coupons," he said.
Haulage trucks damage national roads much more than any other vehicles because of the huge cargo they carry.
Zinara, police and the Vehicle Inspection Department are carrying out a blitz to enforce payment of vehicle licences following the realisation that less than 50 percent of the country's 800 000 vehicles are registered with Zinara.
Zinara head of administration and human resources Mr Precious Murove said the blitz, which began on March 7, had netted 780 vehicles by March 13.
"Out of that number, 348 motorists paid their licence fees on the spot. We impounded the remainder," he said.
To ease pressure on motorists, Zinara has deployed mobile vehicle licence registration teams along major highways leading in and out of Harare.
Mr Murove said for now, the programme was around Harare, but would soon be rolled out countrywide.
He said Zinara had agreed with Harare City Council to do the blitz in the Central Business District where parked vehicles would be checked for compliance.
"Those without vehicle licence discs would be clamped and towed away," he said.
Mr Murove said only 432 000 vehicles were actively registered on the Zinara database, but of that number only 348 000 have valid licence discs implying that 83 500 vehicle owners have not renewed the licences.
If these vehicles pay up, Zinara would raise over US$3.8 million.
Late payment attracts a 100 percent fine and a US$5 administration fee.
"This has prompted us to ensure Zinara impounds unlicensed vehicles that these defaulters must be brought to book. We are doing this exercise because our database has only 50 percent of the national vehicle population. We cannot allow such a big number of vehicles to use our roads for free," he said.
Mr Murove said Zinara was also checking on the validity of transit coupons for foreign registered haulage trucks.
Each of the vehicles pays US$10 for every 100km travelled, but some of the operators have been understating their distances and recycling the transit coupons.
This resulted in the reduction of monthly incomes.
In 2011 the monthly average was US$1.3 million while in 2012 the amount fell to US$1 million.
"We have discovered that 10 percent of the haulage trucks are recycling their transit coupons," he said.
Haulage trucks damage national roads much more than any other vehicles because of the huge cargo they carry.
Source - TH
