To what good is standoff on weighbridge proviso?

By Editor

Editorial Cartoon

The nation is looking on in awe and disbelief as the face-off between the Tanzania Bus Owners Association (Taboa) and the Tanzania Association for Truck Owners (Tatoa) on the one hand and the Works ministry on the other takes its toll.

A short-lived strike by operators of long-distance buses on Tuesday left thousands of would-be travellers stranded at bus stands across the country, a dangerous but largely needless development that caused innocent people untold inconvenience and threatened to throw many social and economic activities into disarray.

Transportation stakeholders want the government to reinstate a five per cent weight tolerance on overloaded trucks at weighbridges. The government, specifically Works minister John Magufuli, will meanwhile have none of it. For the minister, there is no way for Taboa, Tatoa & Co to have their way, while the latter are also not relenting despite intervention by Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda.

The government’s explanation is that it previously endorsed the five per cent overweight on trucks because roads were not in a good enough condition and because there were problems with precision at weighbridges.
Dr Magufuli argues that the situation has improved appreciably and the maximum allowable cargo weight for trucks, fixed at 56 tonnes, should be observed.

The ministry declared in the National Assembly earlier this year that Tanzania provides for a much higher maximum cargo weight than several other countries, among them Kenya and Uganda, a situation he blamed for some of the damage our roads commonly suffer. Thus far, the explanation makes economic and common sense.

But transportation stakeholders are furious, saying the Road Traffic Act has been interpreted differently all along by the Tanzania Roads Agency (Tanroads), lawyers and truck owners – and demanding that the government (Attorney General’s Office) interpret the particular piece of legislation more plausibly in line with present-day realities, demands and expectations the way forward is decided.

Owing to various reasons, ranging from fuel prices to bus fares, both transportation stakeholders and the government are to blame for deadlock that need not have been had reason and consideration of its crippling consequences reigned.

Resorting to strikes and swearing that one would not want to “look stupid” by allowing for well-meaning dialogue have pushed the nation into anarchy – where everyone is a loser and where the wisdom in the saying about the grass suffering most when elephants fight manifests itself most prominently.

One wonders whether all those who have engineered this chaos still appreciate the enormity of the problems their refusal to see the importance of the give-and-take philosophy has fuelled or precipitated.

Some of the would-be travelers might have been seeking life-saving medical attention, while others might have been rushing for a flight to a life-changing job interview appointments that has now vanished never to be found again, etc., etc. Who will pay the compensation such people definitely deserve – and how?

With this, one hopes all concerned will have the interests of the country and nation at heart, swallow their pride and act more responsibly and responsively than they have done until now. But will they? Engaging in play that leaves the public perched dangerously on pins and needles is impossible to tolerate.
 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN