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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
The Gweru-Bulawayo highway which used to top road traffic accidents nationwide and most of them caused by livestock, has not recorded a single road accident involving animals since January this year.

This follows the erection of a $400 000 perimeter fence on either side of the road.

According to the Traffic Safety Council of Zimbabwe (TSCZ), the Gweru-Bulawayo road used to record one accident involving animals every two days. The TSCZ said a total of 732 accidents involving animals were recorded from January 2014 to December 2016 along the same stretch of the road.

TSCZ managing director, Mr Obio Chinyere said after a perimeter fence was erected on either side of the road in January, no accident involving animals was recorded.

“I’m glad to note that from January to date, we have recorded zero road traffic accidents involving animals along the Gweru- Bulawayo highway. We attribute this positive development to the fence we erected on both sides of the road which cost about $400 000,” said Mr Chinyere.

He said the development is a confirmation that road accidents involving animals can be drastically reduced by erecting such fences along the highways.

Mr Chinyere said his organisation was now finalising paper work for another perimeter fence to be erected along the Bulawayo- Plumtree highway. “Our next stop is the Bulawayo- Plumtree highway and the paper work is almost complete. We are just finalising the budget and other modalities,” he said.

Mr Chinyere said TSCZ intends to complete the Plumtree-Bulawayo road and Gweru to Kwekwe road before the end of this year.

The TSCZ, a parastatal under the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, last year embarked on a project to fence off the country’s highways as part of measures to reduce carnage on the country’s roads caused by stray animals.

The programme started with the erection of the Bulawayo-Gweru Highway perimeter fence.

National hero Retired Air Commodore Mike Karakadzai who was also the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) general manager and Apostle Charles Chiriseri are among the people who were killed in road traffic accidents involving stray livestock along this stretch of the highway before the erection of the perimeter fence.

@pchitumba1