Africa-Press – Lesotho. Traffic congestion has become a norm in this modern era of Maseru where time is wasted daily on the long, stiffly queues to and from work. For commuters, it has become almost impossible to get to work on time.
A worker that travels to Maseru from Khubetsoana Tholoana Lesenya said it takes roughly one and half hour to get to town while beforehand she would take approximately
30 minutes.
”Nowadays unlike back then, Basotho can afford to buy themselves
cars so this makes the number of private cars way too many. ” Lesenya said she faces the same struggle when she goes back home. She mentioned that they put
their lives in danger and get into private cars just to get home since taxi drivers avoid using main roads to steer clear of traffic. In an interview with Informative Newspaper, Maseru Regional Taxi Association (MRTO) Spokesperson
Lebohang Moea said traffic congestion affects them in the most painful way possible because they lose a lot of money. He mentioned that normally they would get four trips in the evening to Ha Matala but now they can only make two
trips. He also said that they have no solution because road infrastructure is not their responsibility, however, he pleaded with the government to increase alternative
routes. Maseru City Council (MCC) Assistant Public Relation Officer (PRO) Ntšeliseng Panyane said even though they are responsible for the Maseru town, MCC does not have
full power over some city routes but they have control of the bus stop, urban roads that go through Maseru East, Maseru West and Mohalalitoe. She notified
that these routes are not congested; she made an example of the Mpilo road and the urban roads. She said in their urban roads, congestion is caused by taxi
drivers that use residential areas to relief traffic flow on the main roads, she however noted that they get a lot of complaints from residents because they
drive in high speed. The Assistant PRO mentioned that the bus stop becomes a target for congestion because street vendors place their stalls in the roads therefore causing road blockages.
Secondly, she mentioned that their biggest challenge are shopping centers and filling stations because they do not cooperate. “When they are told to offload
goods and provide parking behind stores they don’t do that. Parking spaces are full of trolleys, meaning cars have nowhere to park so this creates uncontrollable
congestion,” she said, adding that the situation is exacerbated by 4+1 drivers that operate illegally. Panyane also said Maseru is surrounded by countless import car ports, to a point where the
town is getting smaller and congested because import cars are affordable. She said MCC will have to work together with its stakeholders like the Ministry of Public Works, Traffic Department and the Environmental Department to find a permanent solution to this problem.
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