Government to introduce unmanned speed cameras

Newly-appointed Minister of Transport and Public Works Jacob Hara has told officials at the Department of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS) to introduce unmanned speed cameras on accident hotspots.

He said this on his first tour of the department’s offices in Lilongwe since his being appointed on Monday to replace Sidik Mia who succumbed to Covid-19 in January 2021.

Hara observed that shortage of officers who are supposed to enforce road rules and regulations, including speed limit on specific road points, can be solved by having the ‘manless’ speed cameras.

“We should be moving with time such that by now we should have already mounted unmanned speed cameras to help us control speed, especially on points with specific speed limits. This can supplement our inadequate numbers and help to reduce accidents,” said the minister.

He also advised the directorate to consider opening offices in districts to reduce congestion in offices in Lilongwe, Mzuzu, Blantyre and Zomba, and strategise to ensure that more people are assisted per day.

DRTSS director Andrew Sandura said the department will start looking into some of the innovations that the minister raised.

On the opening of offices in the districts, he said it would have been easy if the South African network contractors Movesa and Fisher had handed over the Maltis system to government.

“What I am saying is that the system is fully controlled by the contractors, but they were supposed to hand it over to us way back. We wonder why they are not handing it over to us; otherwise, it would be easy for us to be everywhere,” said Sandura.

He also said another challenge they face is political interference, especially when the directorate has impounded vehicles belonging to powerful politicians or to people with political connections.

The minister assured the department that from now onwards there will no longer be political interference in its operations and he demanded the directorate to submit comprehensive monthly progress reports to him.