THE BAN AND IMPOUNDING OF MOTORCYCLES AND BICYCLES MUST ALSO COME WITH BAN ON HIACE BUSES – RTSA TOLD
By Correspondent Reporter
…”Hiace “buses” are a danger to passengers and must be banned and proper passenger transportation be introduced…
The Communtter Rights Association has charged that as the Road Transport and Safety Agency -RTSA is impounding motorcycles and bicycles being used as passenger transport, the Agency must also begin to Impound Hiace buses.
Association Chairman, Aaron Kamuti says motorcycles and bicycles are used as passenger transport in parts of the country that do not have sufficient or proper passenger transport.
He says the association’s opinion is that other safe modes of transportation should be found before any action is taken against the use of these in areas where there is not much of an option.
Mr Kamuti has also charged that Hiace buses must also be removed from providing passenger transportation as they are not meant for that purpose.
“These have never been buses, these are vans. We just improvise everything on them.” He said.
He added that the seats are installed into them and they do not even have seat belt and that the material used used to manufacture the seats have been dangerous to the passengers and have contributed to causing passenger death.
He had Further questioned what is being done with regards to this “unsafe” mode of transport.
“Idon’t think it would make any sense for you [RTSA] to start impounding bicycles and motorcycles, it’s not making sense, you leave our the major fatal kind of transport we are using in our CBDs, Lusaka, Copperbelt….
These are vans, even on documentation, RTSA you know very well. When you are giving them the licenses, you know very well these are not buses.” He said
Mr Kamuti also said that the association has continually demanded for the removal of the buses and has written to the Ministry of transport and Logistics to have them banned and has since stated that the association will sue government if the status remains.
“We are sacrificing people’s lives, in the soonest possible time, we are going to take the Ministry of transport and Logistics, the government to task. We are going to sue you. We have seen people that are dying who are using these so called Hiace buses. He said.
