Lilongwe City moves to enhance traffic control

Lilongwe City Council (LCC) and the Directorate of Road Traffic and Safety Services (DRTSS) have joined hands to improve traffic controls in the city.

Signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) at civic offices in Lilongwe, the two parties said the new working arrangement would enable traffic officers to undertake some roles of the city council regarding traffic control.

LCC mayor Desmond Bikoko said LCC is hopeful that the joint initiative will help resolve traffic problems in the city.

He said: “The council alone cannot fight these challenges, the gaps we had will be dealt with through this joint venture.”

In a separate interview, DRTSS acting director Fergus Gondwe said they were ready to deal with misconduct on the roads, particularly perpetrated by minibus drivers and conductors, among others.

“We have the capacity to bring sanity on the roads of Lilongwe and the country in general because we have the manpower that is good at this. Let me say that this MoU is timely because everyone can agree that traffic congestion in Lilongwe is a big challenge,” he said.

Gondwe hailed LCC for coming up with road traffic by-laws empowered by the Road Traffic Act, Section 182. He said this would also reduce challenges of trucks using undesignated roads and unwarranted parking at Bwalo la Njobvu.

“Let me assure people that this agreement will make our roads safer as unruly behaviour by drivers will soon be uprooted,” he said.