The president waves to members of the public who attended the inaugural ceremony.
The president waves to members of the public who attended the inaugural ceremony.
PRESIDENT John Magufuli yesterday cited unprofessionalism as the major shortfall that sent the once-vibrant national airline to its knees.
Dr Magufuli charged that Air Tanzania
Company Limited (ATCL) had been operating in a ‘business as usual’ style
without observing professionalism. Speaking at the Julius Nyerere
International Airport (JNIA), Dr Magufuli said the national flag
carrier's employees went to the extent of operating without even having a
manual.
The president said despite treating the
firm as the national carrier, ATCL leaders and directors awarded
themselves hefty allowance of 50,000/- whenever they visited the
company’s daily operations at JNIA and people could visit the airport
for as much as three times a day just to maximise the amount receivable.
"It lacked leaders who could make
decisions and there were acts of vandalising the company ... there was a
system of paying themselves an extra travel allowances and the
notorious stations were Comoro, Mwanza, Mtwara and Dar es Salaam,’’ he
added.
The president revealed that there were
times when the airline’s officials were giving tickets of children to
adults, to earn money dubiously. Mismanagement, corruption and
indiscipline among workers were among the problems that Dr Magufuli
identified as contributing factors to the downfall of the national
carrier.
ATCL, according to the president, used to frustrate customers with its unpredictable flying schedules.
He said customers were sometimes paid
for hotel services due to flight cancellations, increasing the
operational costs as a result. “There were unnecessary overtime payments
and phantom oil with officials indicating that there were flights that
never existed … so we are talking of ghost workers, students, salaries
and oil as well,’’ he said.
Dr Magufuli noted with concern that
there was loss of 700m/- at the Comoro centre, but instead of taking
appropriate measures against the culprit, his tenure was extended after
retirement, "so that he could continue squandering the money."
President Magufuli was speaking at a
ceremony for the grand launch of the two newly acquired Canadian made
ATCL Bombardier Q400 commercial aircrafts at JNIA. “The company had no
management plan, people were not cost cautious and that is why they
could pay allowances to each other unnecessarily because they depended
on free money from the government,” Dr Magufuli charged.
The president directed ATCL board to
revamp the national airline to its past glories. “I direct the board to
ensure that all the officials who lacked integrity are axed immediately.
We fired almost 500 National
Identification Authority (NIDA) workers, why shouldn’t we do the same
here,’’ he queried, asking the Minister for Works, Transport and
Communications, Professor Mbarawa to leave no stone unturned in the
search of unethical employees.
He also prohibited any government
leader, state official or ATCL’s directors and staff, regardless of
their status or positions, to travel aboard ATCL planes free of charge.
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