New drive to reduce road carnage mooted - CILT(UK)
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New drive to reduce road carnage mooted

29 January 2014/Categories: World Press


The Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport (CILT) Tanzania, a body led by transport professionals in the country plans to introduce a Passenger Service Operator Best Award as a way of stimulating professionalism in passenger transport sector to reduce the incidence of accidents.

The agency’s move comes while road accidents in Tanzania are costly and unacceptably high. At least 3,642 people were killed and other 18,813 were injured between January and November, last year, following 21,691 accidents according to Commanding Officer of Traffic Police DCP Mohamed Mpinga.

According to police records reckless driving; vehicle defects, pedestrians, cyclists and the prevailing environment have been the causes to road accidents based. The human factor is perceived to be the principal cause of most bus accidents. According to the current Traffic Police records human errors contributes to more than 70 per cent of road accidents occuring in the country.

However, there are a number of sub factors within the human factor, according to the records which include, excessive speed, overtaking errors, negligent pedestrians, passengers, cyclists and cart pushers, Others include, alcohol and drugs consumption, reckless driving, overloading of passengers and goods, parking errors and driver fatigue Speaking in Dar es Salaam recently during an exclusive interview with this paper, CILT Tanzania’s Secretary General Ramadhan Sawaka said that the move also aims at bringing healthy competition and encouraging better performance among passenger transport service providers.

“The current daily death rate is 11 people; daily injuries rate 57 people according to Traffic Police data…the transport service perimeters are well below standards…timely arrival, safety and comfort are just some of the service parameters which are never met by our transport providers.’’

“So we are intending to challenge bus owners in the country to improve their way of operating,’’ he said.

The award comes while operational environment for long distance services has changed recently. Due to trade liberalisation different types of buses have been brought into the market from different countries.

There has also been a proliferation of bus-body builders in Dar es Salaam where bodies of most buses are fabricated. These buses differ in sizes, models and capacities, among others.

However, the public has complained in respect of narrow seats, low cabin height, lack of enough ventilation and above all the weakness of bus bodywork.

The travelling public blames deregulation of the public transport system for the increased number of accidents occurring on both urban and long distance services. Inevitably this has led to an increase in the number of buses servicing the network.

According to Sawaka, some of the criteria to be used to get the winner of the award include time adherence, accidents records, customer care, operator’s records of passenger complains, quality of operator’s manpower, record keeping, operator’s approach in conserving environment and quality of the vehicle.

He said currently his firm is in a process to find the award sponsors among various organisations and institutions in the country who are ready to sponsor the award even under the name of their brands.

“The award will be released each year and the winner will be given a victorious shield, certificate of approval and at least 9m/- ,’’ he added
As a way of getting a proper winner, Sawaka said the process will involve judges from various professional, regulatory and training institutions including CILT itself, lawyers, the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA), National Institute of Transport (NIT), Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS), Journalists Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET) and other stakeholders.

Speaking of the Awards, Tanzania Bus Owners Association (TABOA) General Secretary, Enea Mrutu said that the idea is good especially if it will involve transparency and avoid corruption in the whole process of getting the winners.

“It is a good idea if it will be accomplished professionally as well…we are ready to participate as contestants since it aims at improving our services and by receiving the awards the winner will increase his/her credibility,’’ he said.

Due to the increased number of passengers currently buses operators have been competing for passengers by employing touts who often 'force' passengers to board buses not of their choice. It is also alleged that, buses race against each other in order to pick up intermediate passengers along the route.

On the other hand, the competition for passengers has resulted in some operators introducing semi luxury and luxury coaches on selected routes to attract more passengers. This will act as a catalyst during the whole process of finding a winner for the award.

Recently, the government through the Minister of Transport expressed the decision to form the National Logistics and Transport Board as a way of revolutionising the transport sector in terms of maintenance of professional standards in the country.

According to the Minister, currently transport and logistics sector has been dominated by unprofessional figures something which has contributed to a number of challenges including its inefficiency and road accidents.

“We are intending to bring changes in the transport and logistic sector…the government is working on this important matter and the results will be made public in due course,’’ he promised.

“I totally agree with the principle stated by Newton (the Secretary General of CILT International) that professionalism breeds efficiency and effectiveness in any field, be it engineering, law, medicine and any other field. Without professionalism any good results would just be coincidental.”

Dr Mwakyembe said there is need for transport and logistics education institutions in the country to produce more experts in the sector.

He said soon there will be no room for a person to manage transport and logistics issues without the institution’s approval.

The coming of the award will solve the current deaths, injuries and property loss with severe financial and social implications on those involved from traffic accidents.

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