. . . as vandals wreak havoc on infrastructure
By Tsitsi Matope
MASERU — The Lesotho Times last week witnessed a farmer driving his span of plough-drawing oxen down the newly-constructed Maseru-to-Mafeteng highway, in one of the most shocking cases of vandalism.
Apparently undisturbed by the damage the plough was inflicting on the tarmac, the farmer kept whistling at the pulling cattle and egging them on as they tore down the road.
According to the Ministry of Public Works and Transport’s Roads Directorate, such lack of care was largely to blame for the rapid deterioration of the country’s roads, as well as absence of traffic signs along many of Lesotho’s highways.
In addition to the sudden decline of road-surfaces due to recklessness by some local communities, lack of traffic signs continues to put the lives of both motorists and pedestrians at risk, while also leaving visitors with no information as to their whereabouts.
In some places, messages warning motorists of various dangers are in Sesotho, compounding an already complex situation.
According to the Roads Directorate’s Public Relations Manager, Ms Nozesolo Mpopo, Lesotho is a classic example of how educating communities to protect roads and related infrastructure, has proved difficult if not futile.
Ms Mpopo said the Roads Directorate had lost millions of maloti worth of property, which she noted was not easy to replace because of the high costs involved.
Lives have also been lost through the absence of traffic signs as motorists are not warned in advance of places such as lay-bys and pedestrian-crossings — a situation Ms Mpopo said was of great concern to the Directorate.
“The importance of road signs can never be underestimated or overemphasised because they guide all road-users on what action to take at various points on the highway.
“They tell motorists where and when to slow down, where they should be aware of livestock, speed limits in various areas and other important information that could mean the difference between life and death.
“That is why it is important for people to understand that road signs are not accessories or infrastructure on display to make our roads look beautiful, but that they warn and instruct motorists and pedestrians to ensure that all road-users are safe,” Ms Mpopo said.
She further explained that while there was need to replace the vandalised infrastructure, many Basotho, particularly those living in the rural areas, have not changed their behaviour and still remove road signs for various personal uses.
“We have noticed that the destruction of road signs is not really out of ignorance, but a disturbing tendency simply driven by lack of care as to how such acts would impact on others.
“It might surprise other people, but we used to have road signage giving all the necessary information on all our major roads. These are now alien on most of our roads, yet this has not always been the case.”
Ms Mpopo further said in many cases, road signs are removed by residents to make carts, doors and other household implements.
“Reflectors on guardrails, for example, are removed together with the bolts, and are then put on trailers. Can you imagine the thinking of someone who digs out road reflectors that assist motorists with visibility at night?
“At the moment, all reflectors along the three-year-old road from Lithabaneng in Maseru to Mafeteng, are gone, leaving the lives of innocent people in danger.”
She further explained that last month, the area which covers Nyenye junction in Maputsoe and the Ministry of Agriculture Research Station up to the border post, had 200 metres of copper cable worth M50 000, stolen.
“Some unknown suspects dug out the cable and even had time to strip out the copper before leaving the whole area in darkness.”
The Directorate, Ms Mpopo said, is responsible for almost all traffic lights and streetlights throughout the country.
Some street lamp-posts, particularly in the urban areas, are knocked down as a result of car-accidents while some are vandalised by criminals who want to steal some cables.
However, according to Ms Mpopo, in Maputsoe, vandalism and theft of the Roads Directorate’s property went beyond the highway.
“We suspect that some street-vendors are stealing electricity by tampering with switches in our kiosks and lamp posts.
“The vendors would then charge their mobile phones and other electrical gadgets, through such criminal acts.
“Judging from how much we pay for electricity, a bill which runs around M466 371.80 per year, we know there is definitely something wrong.”
She further explained that, apart from the theft of electricity, in many urban centres, newly-constructed culverts are blocked with rubbish, while in rural areas, the tunnels are filled with stones.
“Communities do this to divert water from their fields. What disturbs us is that we compensated some of these farmers for their lost fields, only for them to return and vandalise the culverts for their selfish means.”
Ms Mpopo further said the Roads Directorate was also worried about sand excavations near bridges in some parts of the country, which has reached alarming levels.
“Structures of some bridges are weak, a situation that affects the life of the bridges and can even change the course of rivers.
“Among others, the Matukeng-Phuthiatsana river bridge is now critically endangered due to this sand-excavation.”
According to Ms Mpopo, while her department continues to build new bridges and install traffic signs along all the newly constructed roads, the re-installation of vandalised traffic infrastructure along many old roads would not be an overnight initiative.
“Despite the importance of this infrastructure, it is very costly, considering our tight maintenance budget. The reality of continuing to focus on replacing stolen or vandalised infrastructure is that it slows down the progress of new developments.”
She further noted that, to ensure the Roads Directorate stopped the “vicious cycle” of installing and replacing traffic signs, new protective mechanisms are now being introduced on all newly-installed road infrastructure.
“We will soon embark on an awareness campaign to educate communities on the importance of road or traffic signs and also the dangers posed when they encroach on road reserves.”
Meanwhile, the Directorate in the last four months started working on carriageway markings on all major roads in Maseru — an exercise Ms Mpopo said needed to be done regularly but could not due to budget limitations.
