The Local Authority in Nakonde District in Muchinga Province has directed truck park owners to pave their yards with concrete or paver bricks to protect public infrastructure and improve sanitation in the district.
Nakonde Town Council Assistant Public Relations Officer, Florence Sichula said some truck park facilities remain unpaved, resulting in mud being dragged onto the newly constructed Great North Road.
Speaking in an interview with the media, Ms Sichula noted that the failure to adhere to prescribed operational standards poses a serious risk to the roads durability and lifespan.
“Failure to pave truck park yards not only undermines environmental protection and public health standards but also threatens to damage the road surface due to the constant movement of heavy trucks carrying mud and debris onto the carriageway,” she said.
She pointed out that truck park owners were expected to emulate the standards demonstrated at the designated Council truck park.
Ms Sichula reassured the council’s commitment to safeguarding public infrastructure and promoting responsible investment.
Ms Sichula further warned that truck park owners who will fail to comply will not be permitted to continue operating.
She said the local authority also encouraged investors to take advantage of the economic opportunities in the truck park sector.
Ms Sichula added that Nakonde’s strategic position which shared boundaries with Tunduma in the neighbouring Tanzania was a key regional transit and a trade hub.
She also disclosed that the local authority was scheduled to hold a meeting with truck park owners to re-emphasise the prescribed requirements and provide further guidance on implementing environmental protection measures.
“This will focus on ensuring that environmental protection measures and public health minimum standards are also fully implemented,” she said.
Meanwhile Nakonde District Commissioner Marvelous Sikapizye commended the initiative to pave truck parks in the district.
Mr Sikapizye stated that the rehabilitation of the yards will bring the much-needed sanity to the area.
He urged truck park owners to treat the directive with the urgency it required especially that it was rainy season when mud levels were at peak.
“We cannot afford to let our roads and environment suffer. Paving the truck parks is the only way to go because they are putting mud on the main road,” Mr Sikapizye said.
Ok although that sounds like a largely aesthetic argument. How about bringing in the town engineer to argue from a technical perspective?