The Surface and Marine Transport
Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) has vowed to intensify inspection at the
Ubungo Bus Terminal in Dar es Salaam to curb various malpractices
including hiking of fare during year end holiday season.
The
Authority urged bus owners to adhere strictly to operational rules and
guidelines during the period, otherwise they would risk deterrent
punishment.
SUMATRA’s acting Director General Mr
Ahmad Kilima said they have tripled the number of personnel at the
terminal to 15 and during the peak season.
“We are very serious on this.
We don’t want operators to cheat travellers due to the high demand in
December,” Mr Kilima told the ‘Daily News’.
He added: “Despite decreased bad
incidents we are not going to rest….Some of the staff at our head office
will be deployed during the morning to help beef up the exercise at
Ubungo.”
The SUMATRA boss said the same would be implemented in January
at the chronic areas during the return of the passengers— especially in
Arusha and Kilimanjaro.
When Christmas approaches northern-east
Tanzanians travel to their homeland to celebrate the festival and some
use the occasion as a period of family reunion.
Some family matters are
planned and budgeted to be conducted in December thus pushing the demand
for buses, which normally fail to be satisfied.
Some bus owners use the period to
maximize profits at the expense of desperate passengers who want to go
home at any cost.
Mr Kilima said the law required the regulator to
either revoke the operating license or fine the culprits up to
250,000/-.
Source: The Daily News, www.dailynews.co.tz, in Dar es Salaam
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