Protection of roads vital to spearhead development

By Simbarashe Msasanuri
Though Africa is considered a dark continent, there are many things that make it a marvel of many. Despite boasting of a rich culture it has languages that are inextricably interwoven with cultural values and norms. And, one such language is Kiswahili that is widely spoken in this country. Kiswahili, like any other language on the continent has many adages that are pregnant with meaning, and are usually used to express a point.

And, one such is Kuvuja kwa pakacha nafuu kwa mchukuzi (the leaking of a basket is relief to the one carrying it). The saying rightly applied to the recent stand-off between the government and truck owners.  The Tanzania Truck Owners Association (TATOA), who were briefly supported by the Tanzania Bus Owners Association (TABOA), last week embarked on a complete boycott following 48 hours of go slow. They parked their vehicles over a standoff that resulted from the scrapping of the five percent allowable weight waiver on excess cargo carried by trucks at weighbridges.

The Minister for Works, Dr John Magufuli, stood by his decision to scrap the waiver and is premised on the fact that overloading of the trucks is destroying the country’s roads. He, however, told the truck operators that if they want to stage a boycott, then they should park their trucks at home, before saying that the roads will be smiling over haulage trucks’ absence.

The stand-off undoubtedly had a negative impact to the economy of the country, besides discrediting Dar port to those who use it to get their transit goods as they were forced to pay extra costs in terms of storage and delays in clearance.  

But, just like the above mentioned adage that ‘the leaking of a basket is a relief to the one carrying it,’ there are some people who benefiting from the problem.  The problem of traffic jams for the period the road was ‘smiling’ had temporarily been solved. Traffic flow along Mandela road Expressway and Morogoro road was smooth owing to the absence of haulage trucks that usually dominate the roads, creating massive traffic jams.

The residents of Mbezi, Kimara and other surrounding areas, together with those using the Nelson Mandela Expressway, had a field day as they could travel to and from those areas without traffic jams. In fact, the occurrence has proved that trucks are major contributors when it comes to traffic jams.  And, this should give our city fathers an idea as to how they can reduce traffic jams in the city. However, the honeymoon was cut short as the Prime Minister, Mr Mizengo Pinda intervened to restore the allowable five per cent excess weight at weigh bridges, pending discussions for a permanent solution to the contentious issue, marking the end of the standoff.

The premier directed his office, the Ministries of Works, Transport, Industries and Trade as well as the Attorney General’s office to form a joint team and meet representatives of Tanzania Truck Owners Association (TATOA) and Tanzania Bus Owners Association (TABOA) and come up with a proposal for a permanent solution.

And, it will be in the best interest of the country if the solution to be arrived at as per the premier’s directive will put in place measures to adequately protect the roads. This is so because frequent users of our major highways can bear testimony that major roads connecting the country with other countries such as the Dar es Salaam- Tunduma highway are constantly under repair because of these overloaded vehicles.

There are some parts of the road that have given in to overloading to such an extent that there are contours and ridges along the road.  These can be noticed when one travels by road from Dar es Salaam to Tunduma.  But for the past year or so, most sections of the highway have been under rehabilitation. The roads have been resurfaced and the exercise is still continuing around Mafinga area.

The new road and those areas that have been rehabilitated need to be protected from these monsters, failure of which they won’t last. Overloading on our roads has for eons been our number one enemy and it should be curbed.

Setting aside the mudslinging, accusations and counter accusations between the ministry and truck owners, the fact remains that a permanent solution has to be found not only for the stand-off, but for the protection of roads. This is so because bad roads are also a source of death to many users as accidents become an order of the day.  Many innocent lives continue being lost on our roads as people continue to perish like poisoned cockroaches on our major roads, due to accidents, some of which are cause by road defects.

It is true that so many people were affected by the stand-off and a permanent solution has to be found to save the economy and business people’s pockets but whatever decision to be made, it should be that which protects our roads. If the scrapping of the five percent is problematic, then the government should reduce the maximum weight the lorries are allowed to carry over our roads. This is so because maintenance of roads is capital intensive hence continuous resurfacing will gobble funds that could be used in other developmental projects.

This, therefore, means that the government should intensify measures that protect the roads so that they can last longer. In this way, it will be easy to spearhead development in the country as good and reliable roads promote smooth movement of goods and people.