THE National
Institute of Transport (NIT) and Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority
(TAZARA) are
Speaking during the visiting tour of NIT's Governing Council members who officially visited TAZARA on Tuesday this week, NIT Rector Eng Prof Zacharia Mganilwa said: "NIT as a centre of excellence in East and Central Africa in transport and logistics management can reduce various challenges that are currently facing TAZARA."
Prof. Mganilwa added that NIT will identify the challenges which TAZARA face and assist them on human resources capacity to run the company efficiently as well as to cope with changes in the railway industry.
"NIT will attach transport experts to TAZARA for at least 3-months for making a research and come up with solutions that would make the railway company achieve its implementation goals.
"We are enthusiastic to see TAZARA is benefiting through NIT by providing training to its employees, supplying them with capable employees and making knowledge exchange," he said.
Earlier, TAZARA management said that they are facing a shortage of staff due to the fact that over 400 employees retire annually.
Prof Mganilwa urged to TAZARA management: "We have many young people who have graduated from engineering and are unemployed. TAZARA will provide volunteer work opportunities to young people who have graduated from mechanical engineering. I am confident the organization will rise and become better," he said.
Eng. Mganilwa noted that if young people are given the opportunity to volunteer working with TAZARA, it definitely will help the railway company to improve its performance.
Mganilwa said NIT offers training in transport logistics and various engineering specialization, so it can bring the students to TAZARA for practical and increase their knowledge and skills.
On his part, TAZARA Deputy Managing Director, Geoffrey Sengo said that the authority is currently faced with insufficient recapitalization and working capital funds that led to inadequate and unreliable rolling stock, inadequate maintenance of track, obsolete telecommunication and signaling system, high indebtedness, insufficient qualified manpower as well as skewed labour force.
"TAZARA has a workforce of 2,775 employees. The high labour turnover - in 2019/20 was 262 employees, being 9.4 per cent and the turnover in 2018/19 was 447 employees, being 16.1 per cent turn over. Most employees were of the same age, therefore mass retirement at the same time became imminent, and a good example is when about 400 workers retire every year," he said.
He pointed out that the company has been provided with 10bn/- funding for procuring 42 traction motors for rehabilitation of seven locomotives, procuring quarry plant equipment - excavator, drill rig, dump truck as well as paying salaries to employees.
Speaking on TAZARA's strategic targets for 2019/2020, the Deputy Managing Director said: "We want to make a capacity building in motive power and rolling stock to improve availability and reliability as well as improving speed and safety by reducing temporary speed restriction (TSR) from 12 areas to 8 in 2019/2020."
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