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Tanzania: Assist in Railway Capacity Building
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The Citizen (Dar es Salaam)
EDITORIAL
17 July 2008
Posted to the web 18 July 2008
Transport stakeholders in the country gathered in Dar es Salaam yesterday to give their views and comments on draft regulations drawn by the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra).
The draft regulations are on inquiries to be conducted by Sumatra before it grants, reviews, cancel licenses or regulates any rate or changes; to undertake regular review of rates and charges including tariffs; and railways regulations which impose statutory obligation to railway operators to standardise power units and rolling stock for maximum safety.
In other words, the drafts are meant to both improve efficiency and safety of the transport sector in general, and in particular, improved infrastructure capacity for Tanzania's long-term growth and development.
We hope the stakeholders will focus more of their attention on the railways sub-sector. In view of dilapidated state of the country's rail network, hiked fuel prices and shortage of rolling stock, the stakeholders will suggest how best to tackle these problems and suggest the way forward.
This last aspect connects very well with the call by President Jakaya Kikwete at the G8 Summit in Hokkaido, Japan, recently where he urged rich nations to assist Africa to improve its transportation infrastructure capacity to spur economic development in the continent.
According to Mr Kikwete, the recommended infrastructure development could be undertaken with external assistance or through public-private partnership.
It is generally acknowledged that a well functioning railway network increases competition to other forms of bulk transportation, thus lower costs and at the same time empower farmers, small and medium enterprises to access domestic and international markets.
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We thus urge stakeholders at the meeting not to concentrate more on improved transportation tariffs alone in order to reap huge profits, but to think of ordinary consumers who need faster and affordable transportation of goods. That's why we seriously need to plan for building the railway capacity now.
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