Remove roadblocks to ease movement
By Editorial.Team, July 11, 2023Whereas it is all agreed that weighbridges and police roadblocks erected on the busy Northern Corridor have helped control cases of overloading by trailers and other heavy trucks, the same has been blamed for raising the cost of doing business.
A number of transporters have previously blamed the several weighbridges and police roadblocks for causing the frequent unnecessary traffic gridlocks inconveniencing other road users.
Transporters have complained of unnecessary road tolls, multiple border charges, heavy traffic and poor road conditions as major challenges along the Northern Corridor, prompting them to consider the Central Corridor.
It is noteworthy that most of the police roadblocks, usually mounted less than 50 kilometres apart, usually concentrate on long-distance truck drivers, whom the officers extort in the pretext of cracking down on traffic offenders.
On the other hand, there are more than ten weigh bridges on the Northern Corridor, with only Mariakani, Athi River, Gilgil and Webuye using high speed weigh motion machines and multi-deck scales while others such as the Malaba and Salgaa weigh bridges are manually operated, causing massive delays.
It is out of this growing concern over the cost of transporting goods using the Northern Corridor that National Assembly Committee on Regional Integration has joined the fray with proposals to have the more than 27 roadblocks removed to ease movement of goods.
Siding with other players in the transport sector, the Wanjiku Muhia led committee wants all the road barriers, starting from the police roadblocks to weigh bridges removed and other business friendly means introduced.
Though there have been several recommendations previously made to improve on the transport along the Northern Corridor, most of the proposals have ended up gathering dust on shelves in government offices.
Time to act is now to address all the inefficiencies on the Northern Corridor to enhance high volume of cargo on the highway. The National Assembly must as well play its part by making a follow up to ensure that all the proposals in the report are fully implemented.