(independantexpress.net)
Road maintenance happens to be at the heart of road authorities' concerns. Roads are deteriorating prematurely, according to the report. The Autonomous Road Maintenance Finance Corporation is called in to save the roads and is forced to engage in reforms. The creation in December 2014 of a checkpoint at DJEREHOUYE further fuels this need to preserve the road network from the degradation caused by the overloading of heavy-duty trucks. Reforms that have been notable for some time in line with the UEMOA protocol, especially with regard to Regulation 14 of this Community institution. In this major report, the newspaper L'Indépendant Express offers its readers and also all development actors a dossier on the operation of this checkpoint which is also the only one in Togo and the measures put in place SAFER to comply with UEMOA standards for the application of Regulation 14.
The exhaust pipe of our big engine dropped 8 km from Agbélouvé, a town about 50 km from Lomé that we left at 9am.
With the goal ahead, we didn't see fit to turn back. Our driver was the Editor.- A 30-minute break in a makeshift garage, the car was ready to continue. Satisfaction was not total, the repairs of mechanics in the interior of the country are not always reassuring. Cahin-caha, we evolved, passed Notsè non-stop, then Atakpamé before leaning on the tangent road to arrive on the field of investigation.
It is therefore a mission of the editorial staff of the Independent Express. Tyre Tardji, a SAFER executive, had arranged for the Chief Post (CP) of Djerehoué to make himself available to us for information purposes. Missihame Houradjéba was waiting for us in the roar of about twenty titan trucks that were in the waiting tail of the axle.
Several officers were determined to keep track of the passing of the trucks and to control them. The postmaster, rather jovial and respectful, made us sit in his rather adjoining office before engaging in exchanges. As much as he mastered the work he was doing: "It was my superiors, the authorities who instilled in me the mastery of this task. The authorities starting with the CEO who wants this project to make Togo an example to follow… He told us in a sign of allegiance to his Managing Director, Sylvain Awima Outchantcha.
The team of the newspaper L'Indépendant Express had therefore arrived at the checkpoint of DJEREHOUYE about 8km from the city of Atakpamé. A large airy space surrounded by solar streetlights relayed by a generator and a normal electrical installation to avoid the inconvenience of power outage. A fairly modern weighing system and a construction site to create a second weighing system to relieve congestion of the only one in high demand by the average of about 400 trucks per day. The air was hot and dry. It is the warm period, the one that rubs with the fall of the first rains. More than 30 degrees Celsius.
The aim of the journalistic investigation was to touch the functioning of this post and at the same time to see the reforms put in place for some time by this state-owned company, SAFER.
In a Community logic, the West African Monetary Economic Union has defined in a protocol the regulations that must govern road safety in space.
Putting regulation 14 at war against the overload that is often the cause of road degradation, and it is a fight against this situation on our roads. And it is precisely this regulation that is at the centre of the operation of the DJEREHOUYE checkpoint that is the subject of our report today. In the sub-region, it is said, Togo is well ahead of the compliance with these regulations. A satisfaction for the management of this company.
A rigorous control system.
Since December 2014, Togo has had a checkpoint on National Highway 1. This axle load station at DJEREHOUYE controls large trucks that are in transit.
Any truck heading to the north or south of the country is systematically weighed in order to know its true weight. It follows several routes before continuing its journey if it complies with regulatory standards. First, the vehicle must pass the ramp for weighing under the watchful eye of a support officer. This step not only determines the weight of the vehicle but also reacts to the intelligence system that gives information about the origin of the truck, the identity of the driver, the parts, the contents, those of the vehicle and its Destination. This is the stage where we check the conformity of the dimensions of the size, the weight with the standards established by the authority.
So it must be said the maximum speed to pass on the ramp is 5km/h. Any vehicle that exceeds this speed when passing the ramp is obliged to pass this step. At the end of this stage, a check-in card is issued to the driver.
After this step, the driver then passes the check-in officers with the card issued to the weighing operation. These officers are responsible for verifying the compliance of the information contained in the card with the regulatory standards. If the vehicle is in good standing, then it can continue its journey. Otherwise, it is forbidden to continue your journey until your situation is regulated. On this last point, Regulation 14 provided for sanctions against vehicles in these irregularities. This is the case of overload that is recurrent on the roads, either nationally or in other countries in the sub-region. Togo also ensures the implementation of these sanctions.
Penalties for overload cases
According to the information provided by our interlocutor, the Houradjeba Post Office Chief, if this checkpoint was set up with the application of Regulation 14, it is to avoid overload on the roads, if not to limit it to the maximum and to deter drivers who engage in this practice.
Overloading of wide-body aircraft leads to a large extent to the degradation of roads. It is also the cause of traffic accidents. In the UEMOA protocol, overload is a crime. And this offence is punishable by Regulation 14.
At the DJEREHOUYE checkpoint, cases of overload are also known through the control system. These cases are subject to treatment depending on the seriousness of the offence.
After checking the size and weights, vehicles in situations of overload must pay a fine. Only trucks with a surcharge of less than four tonnes are required to pay this penalty and continue their journey. The fine is paid based on 20,000f CFA for vehicles whose journey stops at the national level. Vehicles destined for other countries in the sub-region or beyond the Community area are subject to a penalty of 60,000f CFA depending on the number of tonnes of surplus. Any payment of a fine is subject to a receipt. And it is by right that offenders must claim it.
These tariffs are not an invention of the Togolese authorities. They are provided for by UEMOA Regulation 14 in Article 14.6 paragraph a-2.
Other sanctions are also provided for by these Regulations, such as the refusal of control. Any deliberate refusal by the driver of a vehicle to pass over the rocking bridge or on the axle is punishable by a fine of 100,000f CFA regardless of other applicable enforcement measures, the regulation provided.
Extreme overload
Any truck overloaded exceeds four tonnes is considered to be in extreme overload. In this case, the vehicle is prohibited from continuing its journey. The driver can no longer put the vehicle into circulation or pay any penalty for overcharging. The only option available to the driver of this vehicle is to carry out the operation of the discharge of the surplus regardless of the goods. It therefore has an obligation to offload overloads and correct the template. Having done so, he waits on the site until a convoy is organized by the checkpoint. It is not easy according to the site managers to manage these situations. The offender is always resistant to penalties and penalties. Penalties alone raise awareness among offenders who are increasingly engaging in responsible behaviour.
Certainly, the trucks, after unloading the surplus, were allowed to continue their journey. However, over time, SAFER officials have become aware of the fraudulent schemes taking place on the roads. Maneuvers created and maintained by heavy truck drivers. Indeed, offending drivers after unloading the excess load of the vehicle and putting it within the permitted limits and obtained permission to leave, go through certain channels to reload their trucks again and continue the journey in state of extreme overload. This is how wild charging sites have been created on National No. 1.
In order to combat this phenomenon and to prohibit any act of fraud in this direction, the first leaders of SAFER have in recent months instituted a convoy mechanism.
This consists of transporting trucks in the extremely overcrowded situation to Cinkassé under the supervision of security guards, the Road Transport Directorate and SAFER officers.
From now on all trucks in this case are no longer allowed to leave even after unloading the surplus. They will remain on site until a convoy is organized by SAFER.
Therefore, the reflections are being carried out to outlaw cases of recidivism. Find therefore the deterrent measures for those who each time find themselves in a situation of extreme overload. For the time being, they are subject to a commitment not to commit the same offence.
Standards on the organisation of the convoy
According to the broken discussions with the officials of the Djerehouyé post, the trucks are transported by a team consisting of a DTRF agent, a customs officer sent by the Customse of the Plateau Region and agents of the Autonomous Society of Funding for Road Maintenance.
The costs of organizing the convoy are attributable to the owners of the vehicles. These fees are divided according to the vehicles to be conveyed. The parts of the driver and his vehicle are sent directly to Cinkassé Customs. It is at the arrival of the convoy that the parts are returned to the owners. For those arriving at their destination before Cinkassé, all arrangements are provided by the manager of the djEREHOUYE station so that they easily return to the possession of their parts.
On this occasion the head of the position of DJEREHOUYE in the person of Missihame HOURADJEBA favors dialogue with drivers and make them aware of their offence.
The convoy and the terms of its organization are made in agreement with the drivers. Since its inception the convoy device works well and avoids wild charging sites.
On Thursday, March 12, 2020, they were in the eighth convoy operation. This is one of the major reforms under the management of the new head of this position. All these measures are being taken by the Togolese authorities in order to comply with the UEMOA Regulation 14 adopted in Bamako, Mali since 16 December 2005.
Indeed, the Council of Ministers of the West African Economic and Monetary Union have adopted REGLEMENT No. 14/2005/CM/UEMOA to harmonize the standards and procedures for controlling the size, weight, and axle load of heavy vehicles carrying goods within the community.
As Togo is a member of this union, it goes without saying that this regulation applies properly on its territory.
As far as the size is concerned, we are talking about the dimensions of the vehicle. Its width, length and height are carefully checked.
The Total Authorized Charge Weight (PTAC) also comes into play. On this point, the maximum total weight of a vehicle loaded for use on public roads is declared admissible by the competent authority. It is also up to the authority to determine the total allowable rolling weight, i.e. the maximum total weight of a set of vehicles for use on public roads.
In addition, the Autonomous Road Maintenance Finance Corporation is a public institution that works in mobilizing resources to finance the maintenance of the road network in the country. This establishment was created by decree No. 2012-013/PR of March 26, 2012 by the Togolese government.
SAFER's mission is to ensure the financing of the maintenance of the national road network, on the basis of an annual programme of works, ensures compliance with provisions that can keep the roads in good condition and goes further by taking measures to combat behaviours that contribute to road degradation. It is therefore to fully ensure this mission that it has set up the load control post at the DJEREHOUYE axle, which has been operational since December 2014.
It is then up to the owners of the jumbo jets and their drivers to become aware of the risks they face by defying the standards set out in UEMOA Regulation 14.
The best thing is to ensure that this regulation is scrupulously respected in order to move freely in Togo and the other countries of the union.
The rest of this great report will explain to our readers the consequences of the application of Regulation 14 on the functioning of SAFER and Togo, the difficulties encountered and the constant efforts made by the Togolese authorities to avoid to Togolese roads prematurely degradation.
On the Grand Reportage:
Carlos KETOHOU
Amos DAYISSO
Teddy AYIKA
www.independantexpress.net