Tough week? Trust us, things could always be worse . . .
The Herald (Zimbabwe) reports that all 25 employees of a toll plaza were suspended and seven were discharged “for stealing toll fees, in a scam that could be happening at other toll sites. . . .” In testimony before a parliamentary committee, a toll collection company official rejected the suggestion that business procedures are flawed. “You might call it a flaw but we see it as a challenge,” she said. (Yeah, a challenge. That’s the ticket.)
Taipei Times reported that former toll collectors displaced by 2013 freeway AET conversions started an around-the-clock standing vigil on Monday to air severance pay and job replacement grievances. By Tuesday night, the workers reached a preliminary agreement with the government (and presumably went off to sit on the job).
The Pune Mirror (India) reports that a toll collector on the Pune-Solapur Highway has complained that he was beaten up and threatened with a pistol for attempting to, gasp, collect a toll. The suspects: a uniformed police inspector and four motoring companions.
The Tribune (India) reports that a motorist on the NH-1 toll highway says he was about to cross the Doraha flyover when “a buffalo suddenly appeared in front of my car. As I was caught unawares, I applied sudden brakes. . . . [T]here is no control over the stray animals that appear out of nowhere.”