MAKHADO (LOUIS TRICHARDT) – All tollgates should be removed and all roads should be open to all vehicles, while serious attention should be given to the upgrading of the country's railroad system, to alleviate current problems with road transport.

These views were expressed at a meeting of the Tshipise Tollgate Concern Group held here on June 5. The Tshipise Tollgate Concern Group developed various short, medium and long term goals during the meeting.

Among the short term goals are to open all the roads to all vehicles and to form a small ad hoc committee to study relevant documents. The group will try to find out what happens to toll fees and into which account the money is paid. The committee aims to stop the opening of the northern N1 toll road until all construction has been done. The group will lobby for the revision of all the toll fees from Musina to Pretoria and will investigate the current maintenance of existing toll roads.

In the long term the group will lobby for the removal of all tollgates, until an alternative can be found and in the meantime they insist on well-maintained alternative roads.

In a media statement the group emphasised the importance of restoring the administrative ability of the railways and to upgrade the whole rail system. It also emphasised the vital importance of establishing a dedicated road maintenance fund.

The meeting was informed of discussions, which took place between the Taxi Association and Naledi Development. The new tariff structure of the tollgate was under discussion. The association seems concerned that, although a low tariff was promised to the taxis, there is no guarantee that this will be permanent. They also expressed concern that it seems as if the taxi's will have to pay the full tariff of R25 per trip and claim the difference back at the end of each month. They are concerned that taxi owners might not have the administrative capacity to do this or the financial means to carry the cost of such administrative red tape. The Tshipise Toll Gate Concern Group invited all interested individuals to join them. The contact person is Marie Helm at Tel 082 683 2835. In the meantime, a meeting, which was arranged for last Friday at Musina to discuss the proposed tariffs at the newly constructed Baobab Plaza, was cancelled. One of the organisers, Mr Jason Rana, said on enquiry that the meeting was cancelled because no representative of the National Roads Agency was available to attend the meeting.