Projects - Public Sector - Fuel Saving

In Dedza, public sector organisations, such as the District Assembly, Police, Hospital, etc, spend a large proportion of their budgets on fuel for vehicles. Distances across the District are considerable and 4x4s have to be used because there are only dirt roads to locations not on the main national highways.

Dirt road

District Assembly Vehicle

Craig Champion, the owner of the computer programming company ISAI Technologies, is working with us to devise a "car sharing" programme. This will keep up-to-date information on the journeys to particular locations that are planned for the next few days and the lifts for people or delivery of materials that are sought. Organisations will phone this information to a central co-ordinator in the District Assembly. The co-ordinator will put organisations in touch with each other to work out the details of sharing a journey.

The organisation providing the vehicle for a shared journey will be paid an agreed amount for the "lift" by the other organisation, which will save the costs of a journey by its own vehicle. The computer programme will keep records of the arrangements and the money owed.

Craig visited Dedza in November 2008 to see the situation at first hand. The programme will be developed and tested during 2009.