THE government is finalising the process to restructure and strengthen its national flag carrier, Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) in order to restore its lost glory.
The Permanent Secretary in the Ministry
of Transport Dr Shaaban Mwinjaka said in an interview in Dar es Salaam
over the weekend that the move will involve among others, retrenchment
of some employees in order to retain essential staff only.
“We want to remain with a few but
essential staff as a way of making ATCL an efficient company so that it
can attract investors,” he said.
Dr Mwinjaka said after completing the
restructuring process, it will then be possible to push its five-year
business plan where TIB investment is expected to bail out the
cash-strapped airline in order to procure new airplanes.
“The plan will see ATCL improve services
to its customers and compete with other airlines in the region,” he
said. ATCL was one of the problematic areas mentioned by President John
Magufuli in his inaugural speech of the eleventh parliament in Dodoma,
pledging to direct special attention.
Apart from ATCL, others in the list are
the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), Tanzania Electric Supply Company
(TANESCO) and the Tanzania Railways Limited (TRL).
“These are critical trouble areas that
we must address with all our energy and determination,” he said. “The
government plans to revive the company and reduce the number of workers
in a situation where the company owns only one aircraft,” he said.
In 2013, ATCL reduced the number of its
employees to 172 up from 300 as it launched retrenchment plans aimed at
cutting the number of workforce to at least 50 only. The firm has
experienced a series of problems since its marriage with the South
African Airline (SAA) that collapsed in 2006.
It is through the government subsidy and
sources that the state-run airline continues to survive thus the
downsizing of the workforce was the least painful way to save on
unnecessary expenditure.
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