ZAM to bring sanity on PSV vehicles

—The Zambia Association for Motorists (ZAM) is to bring sanity on the road to the public service vehicle operators especially the taxi drivers.

ZAM President, Haggai Mambwe, observes that some taxi drivers were allegedly being used by criminals to use their vehicles to commit crime and other related activities.

Mr Mambwe says the travelling public should have confidence in taxi drivers because passengers need good service when they book their cars.

He was speaking in Lusaka today when he addressed Lusaka based private taxi drivers.

He said his association is equally concerned about the escalating road traffic accidents in the country because of some ‘fake’ taxi drivers and challenged them to observe road traffic rules when on the road.

And Mr Mambwe has accused the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) of de-campaigning the PF Government because of what he termed as ‘unnecessary rules’.

The ZAM President called for an emergency meeting with RTSA in order to iron out the pending extension of the grace period given to public service vehicle operators to comply with Statutory Instrument number 63 by painting or fixing a 10cm  reflective ribbons on their vehicles before the 31st August, 2014 deadline which the agency has ruled out the possibility of extending.

And speaking at the same function, one of the taxi drivers from Shoprite taxi rank, Chanda Musonda, lamented that taxi drivers were subjected to so many levies like PSV licences, council station levies, road taxes, painting of vehicles and yet at the end of the day they were denied to operate smoothly.

Musonda, a youth, accused RTSA of frustrating the youths most of whom were out of employment.