Q FM Africa's Modern Radio
Government has called for stronger partnership in curbing road accidents in the country considering that over 45, 000 new vehicles are imported into the country annually.
Transport and Communications Minister Kapembwa Simbao says the current population of vehicles on the Zambian roads of over 600, 050 calls for other interventions of behavioral change on the roads.
Mr. Simbao says government is engaging various stakeholders in coming up with ideas that may help the country deal with the current state of road accidents in Zambia.
He says in some countries, the private sector has adopted road safety matters as a corporate social responsibility where they have taken it upon themselves in sensitizing road users on best practices on the roads.
Mr. Simbao says the statistics of road accidents in Zambia when compared to other countries are alarming and call for stronger partnership with the private sector in dealing with this challenge.
The Transport and Communications Minister said this in a speech read on his behalf by Ministry of Transport and Communications Director Lubinda Sakanga during the Road Safety Indaba in Lusaka today organized by the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA).
Speaking earlier, RTSA Board Chairman Webster Nonde says from January to September 2015, over 1, 600 people lost their lives on the roads beating the previous records of about 1, 200 deaths in the previous years.
Mr. Nonde says there is need for the nation to change this ugly face and save lives on the roads by sensitizing people on best practices on the roads.
And RTSA Chief Executive Officer, Zindaba Soko has pledged that the agency will not relent in finding solutions to dealing with road carnage in the country by always engaging stakeholders for solutions.
The 2015 Road Safety Indaba is being held under the theme “Bridging the road safety gap through stakeholder partnership”.