BUJUMBURA March 4th (ABP) – The administrators of Mukaza and Ntahangwa communes and road safety officials brought together, on Wednesday March 3, the drivers of bicycles, motorcycles and tricycles (Tuk-tuks) to explain to them the measure taken. recently to delimit the zone of access to the latter in the city of Bujumbura.
In Mukaza commune, the meeting was held in the grounds of the Scheppers high school in Nyakabiga by the administrator of this commune, Mr. Rénovat Sindayihebura, in collaboration with the road safety police (PSR) and the communal police.
On the demographic level, the administrator Sindayihebura pointed out that the people of the city of Bujumbura has increased constantly over the years, hence the birth of new districts such as Carama, Buterere, Gihosha and so on.
That increase in the city people have thus caused the proliferation of different means of transport that use the roads that were once intended for vehicles, which causes traffic jams which, in turn, lead to fatal accidents, he explained. He added that the decision of February 23, 2022 was made in common agreement with the municipal administration and the officials of road safety after consulting the report of the police in charge of road safety and the population on the cases of deaths and injuries caused by road accidents, from January 2021 to January 2022.
The deputy commander of the PSR and the deputy chief of the communal police returned to more than 3,000 road accidents which took place from January 2021 until January 2022, stressing that this decision is only aimed at protecting the people. “These accidents take the lives of our people, including bicycle taxis and motorcyclists”, they lamented while recalling that this decision will come into force on March 11, 2022.
The participants in that meeting raised their concerns about this decision. They asked to be given another time to prepare well because, they said, this decision was not taken in collaboration with those concerned. “Prevention is better than cure,” said administrator Sindayihebura, who added that life takes precedence over everything, before calling on administrators at all levels to pass on the message to all concerned.
In Ntahangwa commune, the meeting for owners and drivers of taxi-motorbikes, taxi-bicycles and Tuk-Tuks to explain to them the measure recently taken was held at Ozone Diplomatique located in district 4 of the Ngagara zone of Ntahangwa commune.
The communal administrator, Mr. Ernest Niyonzima and the commander of the Road Safety Police (PSR), Eugene Bizindavyi who led this meeting were clear in the face of the insistence of these drivers who wanted the measure to be suspended.
They said that there is no question of going back, it is rather the beginning of a long process to clean up the city of Bujumbura and limit road accidents as much as possible.
Drivers, owners and customers who travel by those means of transport had the opportunity to express themselves.
In large part, they asked the authorities to review the limits drawn, to grant them a reasonable period of time to prepare for this new situation.
They lamented the fact that they were not involved or warned before taking this step. They asked these officials to implore the authorities at the top of the state to suspend this measure or give them a reasonable period of time to prepare for it.
The people who are more affected than the others are in particular students and pupils who travel on bicycles and motorbikes. The same is true for small vendors who go to the COTEBU market to stock up on food and other items.
The commander of the PSR replied that it is rather necessary to try to adapt to this new situation because, even if he agreed to forward the grievances expressed to whom it may concern, he explained that he believes at 99% that nothing will be changed. He invited everyone to respect and secure the boundary signs that will soon be installed on the imposed limits.