Suburban
THE City of Harare and the Zimbabwe Republic Police have been urged to leverage on technology advancements to solve current service delivery and crime challenges.
Peter Tanyanyiwa Suburban Reporter
Residents say the partnership between the City of Harare and Econet, which has made it possible to send out bills on the SMS platform to ratepayers, was the first step.
The residents also applauded the installation of cameras at road intersections in some parts of Harare. However, residents feel more could be done with technology by authorities such as the City of Harare and the ZRP.
Recently, the ZRP summoned the 23 motorists who allegedly went through a red traffic light at the corner of Monavale Road and Solomon Mujuru Drive (formerly Kirkman) on August 24 this year to report to the traffic section at Avondale Police Station.
In a public notice, the ZRP released the names of the drivers, the registration numbers and models of the cars they were driving when they allegedly committed the offence. According to the police, the motorists were captured on camera (in video and picture form) allegedly committing the crime.
Borrowdale Ratepayers and Residents Association (BRRA) chairperson Mr Robert Mutyasira this week said technological advancement avails the necessary monitoring tools and systems to curb irresponsible driving.
“CCTVs on the streets cannot continue to be an unattainable luxury innovation in this day and age. Motorists should be aware that where the police officer is not available, the camera is and all their activities on the road are being monitored. This will make it even easier for police to determine the errant culprit in the event of an accident. We understand this idea will need an alignment of various departments in terms of implementation but it is high time we started from somewhere,” he said.
“Public vehicles can also be kept in check through on-board monitoring gadgets which automatically send to a server information on how a vehicle is being driven. Habitual speed overlaps and hard braking will be indicators that feed into the appropriate corrective action on the offender,” said Mr Mutyasira.
Other residents also said the main issue is about enforcing the law and making offenders pay fines for their misdeeds as many are undisciplined. To this end, technology can go a long way in bridging many gaps.
“Firstly, we need to get the registration plates on all cars and enforce change of ownership. Then we can look at technology again, like cameras at traffic lights and speed cameras and even the vehicle itself automatically being fined. It would instil discipline,” said BRRA committee member Mrs Pat Townsend.
The Zimbabwe Combined Residents and Ratepayers Association (ZICORRA) also said the world is changing and local authorities need to adapt and make use of technology in solving today’s challenges.
“There have also been suggestions for putting up street cameras for security in communities which the police can also adopt. All these suggestions from residents must be taken up by councils, police and related authorities. The world is changing technologically. So, we must adopt these technological advancements to resolve most challenges residents and communities at large are facing,” said ZICORRA’s provincial chairperson for Harare Mr Lawrence Kuleya.
Residents also suggested that the authorities can use online systems that will be live and always online to monitor traffic and this could be done in partnerships with corporates.
“Online systems work, my taxi driver was speeding and I could track his movements, so I told him to slow down. If he exceeds a certain speed limit, he is automatically fined. Imagine if police, council or Zinara could adopt such integrated technologies. With ZB Bank I use their WhatsApp banking, that’s another opportunity for council there,” said a resident.
