27 Nov 2013

The Central Transport Organisation (CTO) is to roll out a fleet tracking maintenance and management system in a bid to address cases of misuse and abuse of government vehicles.

A press release from the Ministry of Transport and Communications stated that the P61 million system was being piloted in Gaborone where over 200 vehicles were installed with gadgets that enabled the surveillance of the vehicles and drivers to their exact point of location.  The pilot was expected to end in January next year.

The press release said CTO, which managed over 9 000 government vehicles used by various departments, had recorded a substantial number of cases of misuse and abuse by both the drivers and officers.

Cases of misuse recorded involved use of government vehicles to run private errands while abuse included over speeding, harsh braking and other forms of reckless driving.

According to the press release, the current measured used to combat misuse and abuse, included occasional mounting of road blocks with the police to apprehend culprits. In some cases, surprise audit of log books and spot checks were carried out but unfortunately, the efficiency of these strategies had been minimal.

For example, a total of 1 000 cases of misuse were reported in the financial year 2011/2012 and 501 cases were reported in the financial year 2012/2013.

The tracking component of the FTMMS would provide ample evidence where misuse or abuse is committed to enable authorities to take appropriate action. Nonetheless, CTO has appealed to members of the public to report cases of misuse and abuse of vehicles in order to preserve the government fleet. ENDS