10 Oct 2013

Central Transport Organisation (CTO) deputy general manager, Mr Augur Malefho has called on stakeholders to work together to ensure safety of people on the roads.

He said this at the recent stakeholders meeting in Maun. He said by working together, they hoped to reduce road accidents by 50 per cent by the year 2020, a feat that called on all stakeholders to play a role and understand that the success of one depended on the other.

“The key to success in the delivery of quality repairs depends on the strength of our partnership and teamwork”, he said. He said they expected to develop an action plan that would guide continuous improvement in the delivery of mechanical services in the North West region which would ultimately reduce the over-stay of vehicles in CTO workshops and garages.

Mr Malefho also said customer focus should be the driving factor in all decisions, both within CTO and the industry, more so that service delivery depended on teamwork. Also, he said, they were concerned about vehicles that have stayed in CTO workshops and garages for over 1400 days.

He also mentioned there were 100 ambulances in garages across the country, something he said was not conducive to the health of Batswana since death was inevitable in such circumstances, urging stakeholders to refocus on decision making.

For his part, private garages representative and BOCCIM member, Mr James Evans voiced his concerns on the practice of taking vehicles as far as Gaborone and Francistown for repairs when the job could be done by garages in Maun.

He further said vehicles cannot be monitored effectively when they were miles away and called for the empowerment of garages as they were qualified and competent enough to handle the workload.

He further urged CTO to pay suppliers well in time because going for extended periods without payment was detrimental to the success of their garages. Responding to the concerns of contractors, CTO Works Superintendent, Mr Osborn Ratshee said that it was not entirely true that they failed to pay suppliers.

Instead, delayed payments only happened when substandard work had been done on repaired vehicles, he said. He also mentioned that the North West region faced a lot of challenges as its geographic location limited service providers.

In Maun, he noted that they were only three car dealerships which was the reason why most vehicles were taken as far as Gaborone and Francistown for repairs or service.

He further said that a lot of vehicles were misallocated, more so that the terrain of North West region was not conducive to most makes and models. Despite all these challenges, he advised all parties involved to work together to deliver a satisfactory service. Ends