Govt set to revise SI 76

Finance Minister Felix Mutati

Finance Minister Felix Mutati has clarified that Minister of Communications and Transport, Brian Mushimba, is this week set to sign a Statutory Instrument to revise and replace SI 76 of 2016, which introduced a restriction in the movement of Passenger Service Vehicles and Trucks between 21:00 Hrs and 05:00 Hrs.

Earlier Mr. Mutati is said to have announced that Government will lift the statutory ban on public service vehicles driving at night.

Mr. Mutati is quoted saying the decision to lift the ban was aimed at effecting a positive growth in Zambia’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by allowing the wheels of commerce to continue rotating every hour.

But in a statement issued to QTV News today, Mr. Mutati says following the implementation of measures to improve road safety management and monitoring, a new instrument to revise and replace SI 76 of 2016 will be signed this week.

The Minister made the announcement in Kazungula, Saturday December 2, 2017, after inspecting construction works for a bridge between Botswana and Zambia.

He says the new instrument is expected to help improve the flow of goods for productive sectors like mining and agriculture in order to accelerate their contribution to GDP.

Mr. Mutati says the decision to revise and replace SI 76 of 2016 is part of Governments overall efforts in reducing the cost of doing business.

Brian Mushimba

And Transport Minister Brian Mushimba tells QTV News that this week he will announce the amendments to the SI to allow goods PSV  to operate day and night upon meeting the conditions set out by the Road Transport and Safety Agency  (RTSA).

PeP President Sean Tembo

Meanwhile, Patriots for Economic Progress (PeP) Leader Sean Tembo says his party is disappointed with the continued policy inconsistency by the Patriotic Front government, of which the most recent example is the Statutory Instrument that was issued by the Minister of Transport on the night time ban of PSV vehicles.

Mr. Tembo says last Friday while in Kazungula, the Minister of Finance reiterated the long held position of the Patriots for Economic Progress that the night travel ban of PSV vehicles suffocates the economy by creating a bottleneck, with attendant adverse effects on the livelihoods of our people.