Zimbabwe roads a death trap, says Obert Mpofu

ZIMBABWE'S roads are in a deplorable state and need urgent rehabilitation as they have become a "death trap", a cabinet Minister said yesterday.

Transport and Infrastructural Development Minister Dr Obert Mpofu told a gathering during the occasion of the nationwide march against road carnage in Bulawayo that close to 2,000 people die in traffic accidents each year.

"Our roads are in a bad state. They are old as some of them were built before independence and have become very dangerous to travellers. Traffic accidents continue to claim lives and maim people resulting in the country losing thousands of its economically active population," said Dr Mpofu.
He chided motorists for "worsening the situation by their reckless driving".

Dr Mpofu said in 2012, 2,094 people were killed while last year 1,787 died due to road traffic accidents, which he said were largely blamed on human error.

He said his ministry had crafted a programme of action to urgently rehabilitate the country's roads and tighten traffic regulations to reduce carnage on the country's roads.

In the coming weeks, Dr Mpofu said his ministry will announce comprehensive road projects resulting from the recent tender in which the government sought to engage companies on a Built Operate and Transfer (BOT) arrangement to rehabilitate highways and cater for increased vehicle population.

Said Dr Mpofu: "This programme will be running before the end of the year and all major roads will be worked on. I am not promising you a lie."
He said government had directed that boundary fence be erected on all major highways to protect motorists from stray animals.

Dr Mpofu urged the motoring public to abide by road traffic laws and desist from speeding as these have proved to be major causes of accidents.