By IREEN MULENGA
The Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has extended its initiative to decentralize its services to underserved regions, especially rural districts.
RTSA Director and Chief Executive Officer Gladwell Banda said that the Agency has in the last 10 months devolved some of its road licensing functions such as payment of road tax and motor vehicle road worthiness to 11 local authorities across the country.
Mr Banda said RTSA is leveraging the presence and the role of local government authorities to provide greater reach and reduce the burden and cost of citizens accessing RTSA services.
“This initiative is meant to extend our footprint to districts without RTSA presence. We have commissioned selected RTSA services over the last ten months to eleven districts namely; Lundazi, Nyimba, Mbala, Mwense, Kafue, Luangwa and Mumbwa. Others are Kapiri Mposhi, Mwinilunga, Kabompo and Kasempa,” he said.
He said RTSA will target to cover more underserved regions and during this period they have also opened three RTSA offices in Petauke, Serenje and Mokambo Border.
And Kasempa District Commissioner Chanda Mali has hailed the RTSA and Government for taking services closer to the people.
The trajectory of the decentralization programme is underpinned under the National Transport Policy through the Ministry of Transport and Communications and is in line with the Government’s Seventh National Development Plans (7NDP) and the Vision 2030 which is a long term plan that expresses the aspirations of the Zambian people to live in a dynamic and middle-income industrial nation that provides the well-being of all by harnessing opportunities for economic growth.
