(LUSAKATIMES) The state of our Roads in Lusaka—Is the Local Government Doing Enough?

The state of our Roads in Lusaka—Is the Local Government Doing Enough?
By Wesley Ngwenya
November 30, 2008

Just the other day as I passed on Independence Avenue before the fly over bridge headed into town, I saw workers digging a diversion for the huge puddle of water that accumulates yearly on that part of town. The question that always goes in my mind when I see such things is– why does the local government have to wait for the rains to come to take action? Don’t they know that at this time of the year it rains in Lusaka and that Independence Avenue floods around Kamwala?

It is such incompetence, lack of planning and direction of our leaders that perpetually drags our country steps backwards. What is actually shocking is that there is money available for such repairs on major city roads. However, the bureaucracy in local governments and their backward thinking continue to jeopardize the lives of many Zambians who use these roads. Don’t you know that it is costly for us as a nation to continue losing innocent lives as a result of poor roads in Lusaka? It is costly for us as a nation when motorists spend more time on the road than on work. It is costly for us as a nation when motorists have to take their vehicles to the garage before they get to the office.

On the other hand, however, we the Lusakans are to blame for negligence that is continuously exhibited by the local authorities since we all behave the same. I see this phenomenon all over the city. Despite the fact that the rains came very late this year, we waited until it actually started raining to fill the potholes in front of our yards. No wonder it is difficult for us to take the local authorities to task because we actually don’t see anything wrong. We need to inculcate a planning culture in all of us. We need to look at the calendar remember our geography lessons about seasons and plan accordingly. You never know we could teach the local government something when they see us working on our roads and yards in September?

By the way, have the local government ever thought about curbing the increasingly traffic problems that the City of Lusaka is facing? In some of the cities I lived in the United States, I noticed that the local government was always proactive in planning and implementing programs to solve future traffic problems. They had projections on the population growth as a result they also developed more housing and roads. Sometimes they developed projects that deliberately diverted traffic from using certain roads so as to reduce traffic. These projects were ten or fifteen year forecasts. They were always many years ahead. Now that’s what planning is. Can our local government in Lusaka learn from this? Absolutely!

Since our local government is so busy with other things—who knows what? I hereby give my services to them. I will highlight a few suggestions for them that I think they should undertake. This will not only save lives of many Lusakans but also make more money for the city.

1. Rush Hour Tolls on Independence, Church, and Great East Roads: With tolls introduced on these roads during rush hours it will see the reduction of vehicles using them. With a fee of say K20,000 per car ( Install paying booths around the fly over bridges towards town) how much money can the authorities raise in a year do the math?
2. Introduce and Encourage Motorcycles and bicycles: This will significantly reduce traffic, fuel costs, and good for our environment. Who says we can’t go green in Africa?
3. Make the railway line to Chilenje a Pavement: This means people can walk, jog, and cycle to town which will create less congestion on the main roads— no motorized vehicles.
4. Connect the Chilanga to Lusaka International Airport with a Toll Expressway: This will mean you do not have to go through the city to go north, east or west. Plus heavy goods vehicles can use this.

These ideas will definitely put a new face to the city and we are all bound to smile. The question though is whether our authorities are capable of coming up with such ideas or better let alone implement them? What do you think readers? Any other ideas?

email - wes_ngwenya *** yahoo.com