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Minister Obert Mpofu

Felex Share Harare Bureau
THE government will go ahead with plans to introduce tollgates in urban centres, Transport Minister Obert Mpofu said yesterday. Urban tolls, he said, would raise funds to finance infrastructural development and decongest the city centres.

Mpofu made the remarks after meeting a Malawian delegation that is in the country on a study tour on the implementation of the tolling system and the use of graders in maintaining and improving the road network.

The delegation is led by the principal secretary for Transport and Public Works Moffat Chitimbe.

Mpofu said urban tollgates would encourage people to drive into town only when it was necessary.

“We’re working on that and certainly when the time comes, we’ll advise accordingly,” he said. “We’ve many vehicles that aren’t supposed to be in town. We believe when we introduce these urban tolling measures, those that need to be in town will be in town and those who need not be in town will try to avoid those facilities.”

Mpofu said consultations were ongoing between his Ministry and Local Government, Public Works and National Housing.

The urban tolling system has been successfully implemented in a few cities around the world, especially in Europe.

In London, Stockholm and Oslo, urban tolling led to the reduction of traffic, an optimised accessibility and a reduction of carbon emissions.

Mpofu told the Malawian delegation that the trip was an opportunity for the two countries to synchronise their activities.

“It’s not a learning trip but one to coordinate our activities,” he said. “We’ve roads that lead to each other’s countries and they’ve to be done in a manner that’s convenient to us all. Our system, which is simple, has attracted the region as a good model for generating funds for developing our roads.

“We also expect your views on how we’re doing. It’s something we’re using but it’s not 100 percent perfect and even acceptability by the public is a challenge.”

He said it was only through robust cooperation that the regional network could be improved.

All road users, he said, should play a role in the development of roads.

“We can’t be relying on the Treasury to develop roads when in fact road users should be part of that development,” Mpofu said. “We don’t want to tax our people when people who use roads will be the ones who will enjoy that comfort.”