WORKS, Transport and Communications Minister, Professor Makame Mbarawa, has ordered the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) to come up with tougher regulations that will help to curb road accidents.
In an interview with the ‘Daily News’ in
Dar es Salaam yesterday, Prof Mbarawa said he has directed SUMATRA to
find a lasting solution to the carnage by enacting tougher road safety
regulations.
According to the minister, the new
regulations must impose sterner penalties on both drivers and bus
owners. Prof Mbarawa told the ‘Daily News’ that the government, through
police and SUMATRA, is well prepared to end road accidents. “We cannot
allow this to continue.
We are losing innocent lives every day
because of a few reckless drivers. This must stop,” Prof Mbarawa
declared. He said SUMATRA must draft regulations that will instill a
sense of responsibility among drivers and bus firms.
“It is obvious that the existing
regulations are not tough enough to send a serious message to reckless
drivers and bus owners. It is high time we came up with something more
serious to deal with this problem,” he pointed out.
On Tuesday, police and SUMATRA banned 15
buses owned by four companies from operating for flouting road safety
regulations. Twelve out of the 15 buses are owned by City Boy Company
while the remaining three go by the Super Samy, Ota and Mohammed Trans
trademarks.
The decision was reached following the
recent wave of road accidents that has claimed hundreds of lives and
left many others maimed. According to SUMATRA, the suspended buses will
be allowed to resume operation upon submitting a comprehensive report
confirming that the vehicles in question meet the required standards.
SUMATRA Director General Mr Gilliard
Ngewe said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that his office has already formed
a team to draft new regulations, which he will present to the minister
for further action.
“We had a serious talk with the minister
on the state of road accidents in the country. He has given us
directives, which we have started implementing,” he said.
According to Mr Ngewe, the Minister
proposed the new regulations to ban drivers and buses’ firms that
violate traffic rules from operation for one year. He said at the moment
there is no regulation that indicates specific time for SUMATRA to ban
buses and drivers from operating after causing accidents or violating
other traffic rules.
According to the SUMATRA boss, the new
regulations, if approved, will enable the authority to mete appropriate
punishment within a specified period of time. “We are looking forward to
receive a document from the team next week.
The document will be forwarded to the
minister who will then take it to the Attorney General for other legal
procedures,” said Mr Ngewe. He observed that the new regulations aim at
punishing reckless drivers and irresponsible transport firms, with the
purpose of saving lives and ensuring that traffic rules are strictly
observed.
“At the moment, passenger service
companies are allowed to resume operations upon submitting a
comprehensive report confirming that the vehicles in question meet set
standards,” he elaborated.
The SUMATRA boss pointed a blaming
finger at bus owners for not considering professionalism when hiring
drivers. He said in recognition of poor training among most of bus
drivers in the country, SUMATRA came up with a proposal that wanted
drivers to go back to school. But in response, drivers downed tools
demanding the reversal of the requirement for them to go back to school.
“The drivers refused to go back to
school. We are experiencing accidents because most of drivers are
poorly-trained,” he stressed. Last week, at least 11 people were killed
and 44 others injured in two separate road accidents, which occurred
along Morogoro- Dodoma Highway at Dakawa-Veta in Morogoro Region. The
accidents involved a passenger bus christened ‘Otta Classic’ and two
trucks, which were involved in a head-on collision. On Monday, two City
Boy Company buses collided headon along Maweni-Kintinku Road in Manyoni
District, Singida Region.
At least 30 people perished and dozens
others wounded. According to statistics by the traffic police, there
were 3,969 deaths from road accidents countrywide in 2012; 4,002 in 2013
– and 3,760 in 2014. Between January and April, 2016, at least 970
people perished and other 2,470 were injured in road mishaps.
The total number of road accidents in 2012 was 23,578; 23,842 in 2013 and 14,360 in 2014.
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