Govt vehicles must pay toll fees, minister

ALL Government vehicles, including those that belong to ministers and police might soon start paying toll fees at tollgates along the country’s major highways, a Cabinet Minister has said.

The pronouncement come at a time Government could have been losing millions of revenue as more than 200 000 vehicles owned by the State have not been paying toll fees since they started operating in 2009.

The Government introduced toll fees as part of measures to raise funds to construct and rehabilitate roads.

As part of revenue collection efforts, the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development said councillors and Members of Parliament would not be exempted from paying toll fees.

Speaking at a stakeholders meeting with road and local authorities at a local hotel on Friday, Transport Minister Joram Gumbo said this move would put more money in the coffers of the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara), which would then be channelled towards road maintenance.

“We have about 207 000 Government vehicles which don’t pay toll fees, and so we are saying they must pay. The Permanent Secretary has to think about that,” he said.

The addition of all Government vehicles to pay toll gate fees come after Dr Gumbo also told road authorities in Gweru on Thursday that Members of Parliament and councillors will not be exempted from paying tollgate fees.

Some MPs and councillors have been writing to the Zinara requesting to be exempted from paying toll gate fees.

Meanwhile, Dr Gumbo said Zimbabwe was working with its regional counterparts to come up with a road accident fund which would pay out compensation to victims of car accidents injured in the Southern African Development Community (Sadc) region.

The accident fund would provide compulsory cover for all users of the country in question’s roads against injuries sustained or death arising from accidents involving motor vehicles within its borders.

This cover would be in the form of indemnity insurance provided to the person who causes the accident, as well as compensation provided to the victims of motor vehicle accidents and their families.

Dr Gumbo said that there have been cases where people have been injured in foreign countries but could not be compensated.

“The reason why this happens is because we don’t recognise each other’s’ insurance policies but we are working on something to address that in the context of Sadc,” he said.

“We’re going to come up with a standard road accident fund and on 21-23 February, the rest of Sadc is coming to Zimbabwe to work out that.

“One should be able to claim compensation from the road accident fund in that country, although the claim will be based on other factors such that the compensation won’t be much.”