Africa-Press – Zambia. The Road Development Agency (RDA) has lamented the overloading of motor vehicles on the Zambian roads. RDA Acting Director Communications and Corporate Affairs Anthony Mulowa said vehicle overloading has become rampant and a major contributor to road damage as well as maintenance costs.
During a stakeholder meeting for Axle Load Control in Ndola on Tuesday, Mr. Mulowa said the objective of Axle Load Control is to preserve the design life span of public roads by regulating the maximum weight of vehicles above 6.5 tons. He said road infrastructure represents huge investments in Zambia hence the need to protect the road network against misuse and accelerated damage.
“Overloading of motor vehicles is rampant and a major contributory factor to road damage and increased maintenance costs. The Axle Load Management Regime preserves the asset, increases design life of roads, reduces maintenance cost, and enhances safety by restricting overloaded vehicles,” Mr. Mulowa said.
RDA is responsible for the care and maintenance of the entire classified road network of 67,671 kilometers of roads although the agency has concentrated its efforts on a rationalized network of 40,454 kilometers deemed as the core road network.
And Copperbelt Province Permanent secretary Augustine Kasongo who was represented by his deputy Daniel Kamenga observed that overload of trucks causes premature deterioration of the road network as well as road safety deathtraps.
Mr. Kasongo said with overloading there are no equal market opportunities as those that do not overload are disadvantaged as they do not compete fairly with those that thrive on overloading.
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