Source: Mutare hosts road fund talks | The Herald June 21, 2017
Mutare Bureau
BY 2020, road accidents are expected to be the main cause of deaths globally, while in Zimbabwe on average, five people die and 38 are injured everyday due to road carnage, the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe has said.Addressing Manicaland stakeholders during the ongoing countrywide consultations on the creation of a national Motor Vehicle Accident Fund recently, the director of transport management in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, Mr Allowance Sango, said the accelerated rate of road accidents claiming lives in the public transport sector was now alarming.
Mr Sango said Treasury did not have a budget for national disasters.
“We are all potential victims or causers of road accidents. It should not be a blame game, but something that we should be prepared for as a nation. In 2012, road accidents were number nine as the main cause of death globally, but currently road carnages are ranked fourth causal of death with predictions that by 2020 they will overtake all other pandemic disease burdens and be the main cause of death globally,” he said.
He said monitoring compliance to post-crash management was now a necessity to ascertain the country’s level of preparedness to road accidents.
Mr Sango said the setting up of the Road Accident Fund would address Pillar Five of the Moscow Declaration, which deals with post-crash management which has three phases – rescue, hospitalisation and rehabilitation.
“The fund will ensure fair compensation of victims and their families in the event of road accidents and it will also focus on essential services that guarantee preparedness to road carnage like purchase of more ambulances, Vehicle Inspection Department’s inspection of vehicles and other forensic test technology, which are key to have in place efficient post-crash management systems.
“Our current state of unpreparedness is terrible, where in most cases, ambulance services and paramedics are hesitant to attend to people injured at accident scenes because of uncertainty over payment and DNA tests to identify the deceased take forever due to limited resources and experts services,” said Mr Sango.
Mr Sango, however, said so far the proposal of the Road Accident Fund had been well received by all stakeholders, while the draft for Parliament is expected to be ready by December for implementation in 2018.
TSCZ managing director Mr Obio Chinyere said Zimbabwe would not be reinventing the wheel by creating a Road Accident Fund. He, however, said the fund should be tailor-made for Zimbabweans for it to be sustainable, which explains why they were holding consultations countrywide to get input from stakeholders.
“We have done consultations in Bulawayo, Gweru, Masvingo, Kadoma and Harare and now we are in Mutare. In the SADC region, South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, Lesotho and Namibia all have this road fund. It will not only assist post- crash management systems, but also work towards preventing accidents,” said Mr Chinyere.
TSCZ administration and finance director Mr Clifford Gobo said already they had done their homework from the regional road accident funds, but now needed buy-in from local stakeholders on the best way to finance and administrate the fund.
“What we do not want is replication of duties that unnecessarily chew more money from Government. We want an efficient structure that really serves the interests of the people,” said Mr Gobo.
It emerged that Zimbabwe has an estimated vehicle population of about 1,2 million, which is growing at a rate of between 5 and 10 percent per year.
Mr Gobo, however, said most people were being injured in unregistered and uninsured vehicles, which is a major concern for post-crash management.
Stakeholders suggested various schemes for the fund with some suggesting the creation of a fund similar to the Aids Levy where deductions will be made from everyone’s payslip.
Some suggested a fuel levy to be the main source of revenue whilst others said 10 percent of revenue from all traffic offences should go towards the road fund.
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