COPS SCRAP 268 PUBLIC VEHICLES

MBABANE – Police have removed 268 unroadworthy public transport vehicles from the capital city.

According to Police Public Relations Officer Superintendent Wendy Hleta vehicles were removed in their operation which ran from March 10 to March 21.
Public transport vehicles were being tested next to the Coronation Park. Hleta said they were on a drive to remove vehicles which were not fit to be on public roads. She said this was to protect the public. Unroadworthy vehicles have been identified by the police as one of the major causes of road traffic accidents.

“We are currently working on removing unroadworthy public vehicles. Currently, we are working in the Hhohho region. The public has raised concerns about the state of some of the public vehicles,” she said. Hleta said before the operation, they liaised with a committee of public transport owners, and they told them that 401 vehicles were servicing the city.

She said 175 mini-buses (kombis), 26 midi-buses, 24 taxis, 20 vans, 14 trucks and nine buses were removed from the roads.  Hleta said the police were testing all faults in the vehicles including the braking systems, lights and mirrors. She said the operation was ongoing, and it is currently in the Hhohho region.

Since last week Monday, people could be seen standing in long queues at the Mbabane Bus Rank, as many kombis had been removed from the road. Hleta urged public transport owners to fix their vehicles before they got back on the road. She said some waited until the police were not around, then went back to service the public. “The consumers should be happy and safe every time they board public transport,” she said. “The owners of the vehicles which were found to be unroadworthy should ensure that they are fixed,” she said.
She also urged all those who had kept their vehicles at home after hearing of the operation to release them so they could be tested for the safety of the public.

Meanwhile, police statistics show that there were a total of 5 117 road accidents between April 2013 and January 31.
The statistics shows that 150 of these accidents were fatal, 534 were serious, 1 180 minor and there were 3 253 damages. On the other hand, there have been rumours that some people have been selling stickers which confirm vehicles’ roadworthiness.
This was said by Hleta yesterday.

She said roadworthy vehicles were given blue stickers with a police logo after testing. “We have heard some rumours that some people are now selling the stickers,” she said. She said this was totally wrong and it should stop. She said the stickers were meant to alert the vehicle owners about faults in their vehicles, so they could fix them. She said if people were found involved in such acts, they would be dealt with accordingly.
Hleta further thanked the vehicle owners and operators for their cooperation during the operation.

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