Traffic and parking of heavy goods vehicles: the regulations fall under the exclusive competence of the Municipalities

2023-05-22 07:59:34

• The Municipal Police to ensure safety…

• 1,335 street clearance and decluttering operations in 2022

• Too many texts adopted without effective application

According to Colonel Boukaré Zoungrana, “the current organization of the territory is not subject to questioning”. (Ph: Yvan SAMA)

L’anarchic installation of stores on plots initially intended for residential use has become commonplace in the city of Ouagadougou. This phenomenon has gained momentum in the neighborhoods adjoining the major markets and yaars of the Burkinabè capital and is not without consequence on the lives of Ouagavillois.

Indeed, some warehouses contain flammable or explosive products, thus constituting serious threats for local residents. Added to this puzzle is the circulation and parking of the vehicles which supply them most often at peak times, thus causing the congestion of the arteries with all its corollaries.

It is this bitter observation that brought the Deputy Jean-Marie Kombasséré, member of the “Defence and Security Forces” parliamentary group to address an oral question to the government during the plenary session held on Tuesday 25 April 2023, namely: “what is being done to ensure compliance with the regulations circulation and parking of heavy goods vehicles (trucks), in order to avoid congestion in streets and alleys (six meters)? »

Colonel Boukaré Zoungrana, Minister of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security, was dispatched by the government to provide some answers. The latter, at the start of his remarks, made a point of specifying that the implementation of the regulations on the circulation and parking of vehicles falls within the exclusive competence of the Communes, in accordance with the provisions of the General Code of Territorial Communities, before suggesting that article 260 of the General Code of Territorial Communities (CGCT) provides that: “the Mayor is responsible for the municipal police aimed at ensuring safety, security, sanitation and tranquility”.

And to achieve this, the Commune is taking action both operationally and infrastructurally, he continues. On the operational level, the Minister indicated that preventive actions are carried out upstream to raise awareness, in general, of the Ouagavillois population, and in particular, drivers of heavy goods vehicles. At this level, recourse is made to repression for the disobedient.

Idrissa Zida

Filet

Hours authorized for circulation of heavy goods vehicles,

in particular, liaison vehicles in the city of Ouagadougou:

PFor heavy goods vehicles with a GVW of less than 10 tonnes:

• 8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.;

• 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.;

• 20 hours 00 minutes to 05 hours 30 minutes.

For vehicles transporting coal and firewood:

• 20 hours 00 minutes to 05 hours 00 minutes;

For heavy goods vehicles with a GVW of more than 10 tonnes transporting specific products that have benefited from an immediate removal procedure for serving industrial and commercial areas:

• 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.;

• 9:00 p.m. to 5:30 a.m.

Always, according to Colonel Boukaré Zoungrana, at the infrastructural level, in addition to the actions carried out such as the development of parking areas, rest areas and the construction of bus stations, the Municipality of Ouagadougou, through the support of the State, intends in the short term to continue the actions to widen the roads ; strengthen the parking spaces for heavy goods vehicles; multiply the number of stations; strengthen the security system in terms of installation and market protection.

In the long term, it will be restructure markets and yaars according to international standards; to create modern car parks with large capacities that can park and unload heavy goods vehicles in the city of Ouagadougou; and to relocate certain warehouses or commercial areas within the capital.

With regard to the anarchic occupation of the public domain which was the subject of a file in our number 481, the minister reassured that: “the municipal police are watching over it, in collaboration with the national police and the gendarmerie. For example, in 2022, the Municipal Police carried out 1,335 eviction and street clearing operations”.

Too many texts adopted without effective application

During the debates, the problem of effective application of the texts was raised. For the Minister, the need for a revision of the texts is essential and this is the right moment. It also calls on the population to contribute by reporting cases of infringement.

framed

Division of the national territory, the explanations of the MATDS

Le Deputy Moussa Sawadogo, member of the parliamentary group “Forces vives des regions”, was the author of the first oral question which concerned the reluctance of certain populations in the face of the division of the national territory, in favor of integral communalization. “How do you (note: the government) explain the persistence of this situation in our municipalities and our villages? What do you envisage as a strong measure to solve this problem, in order to avoid possible conflicts? »

In response to these questions, the Minister of Territorial Administration, Decentralization and Security, Colonel Boukaré Zoungrana, first wanted to make it known that the realization of an administrative redistricting of the territory always meets a need major innovation in terms of administrative management and political organization of the territory compared to the previous organizational system. It also aims to correct imperfections and above all to bring the Administration closer to the citizen.

“The large number of requests for the creation of new administrative entities (see table) testifies to the strong support of the populations”, he suggested.

Years	Requests for creation of:	Effective
2013	New departments	558
2013	New Provinces	46
2021	New Communes	63
	New Provinces	31
	New administrative regions	05

Source: Elements of the minister’s response

According to the Minister, the current organization of the territory is not the subject of questioning, but rather there is an ardent desire of the populations of many localities to see their locality set up as a new administrative entity.

He ended by reassuring the national representation that his department gives it sustained attention, through, in particular, the identification of cases of boundary conflicts between local authorities or administrative entities, with a view to providing the appropriate responses.