THE Surface and Marine Transport Agency (SUMATRA) is still working on the recent application by the transport stakeholders which they had sent two months ago requesting for the approval of an increase of the upcountry bus fare so that owners would be able to curb with the daily operational coast, an official from the agency has said. SUMATRA’s Corporate Affairs Manager David Mziray said in an exclusive interview last week in Dar es Salaam that, “a special committee consisting of economic experts has been selected by his organization to work on various opinions raised by stakeholders in order to reach a consensus “We are still collecting views from the economic experts and other key transport stakeholders in the country. You see this issue is not an easy task as it touches the economy of the people and in view of this it really needs mote time to be considered thoroughly” he said. However he noted that, SUMATRA is not yet in a position to officially announce until all the experts have been contacted and their views looked at critically to evaluate their authenticity before giving out its final decision. He added that, as for now the time frame is shorter to make a quick decision. He added that, SUMATRA is still scrutinizing the magnitude of the problem and weigh stakeholders’ views over the matter prior to the official announcement.
Some of the Daladala mini-buses operating on the outskirts of the Dar es Salaam city. Owners have long been demanding for the fare increase.
He has also reiterated his organization’s need as it would not hesitate to take any stern measures against transporters who would be found to have violated SUMATRA’s rules and regulations. Meanwhile, two weeks ago the government through the ministry of Transport has fined 25 upcountry bus operators at Ubungo bound upcountry bus terminal each with Sh. 250,000 after having been caught overcharging their passengers beyond indicative fares imposed by the government. This was after the minister for Transport Dr. Harrison Mwakyembe made a surprise visit to the area following reports that the bus operators had increased the fare contrary to what the government had laid down. The Minister found them guilty of forcing upcountry passengers were paying more than the indicative fares set in accordance with transportation regulations by the transport agency. Citing an example, Dr. Mwakyembe said unscrupulous but operators had increased fares by 80 percent from Sh. 35,000 to Sh. 60,000 per trip for passengers traveling to Mwanza contrary to set regulations. He reminded the bus operators that, despite the fact that they operated their services commercially, they were bound to follow indicative fares set by the agency.
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