TANZANIA: THE Tanzania Medium and Small Truck Owners Association (TAMSTOA) has asked the government to ensure safety on their cargo and drivers when crossing neighbouring countries.

The association said some neighbouring countries have become unsafe for their business of cargo transportation from the Dar es Salaam Port.

"This situation has resulted into regular incidents of hijacking of cargo trucks, something which leads to loss to owners and injuries or deaths of drivers," Mr Chuki Shaban, chairman of the TAMSTOA, stated.

Mr Shaban was speaking yesterday during the 4th Annual General Meeting of the association, where he also mentioned poor state of Tunduma road and lack of car parking as another challenges.

Meanwhile, he asked the government to address a challenge of truck delays due to much time spent resolving traffic issues on the road.

He argued that their trucks carry cargos belonging to foreigners, therefore, spending much time on road hinders smooth operations.

"Our trucks carry transit cargo, thus when a traffic police officer holds a driver for hours because of just 50,000/- traffic fine is not right. We suggest that the truck is allowed to proceed with the journey to deliver the cargo first since the truck number is already recorded," he said.

He said President Samia Suluhu Hassan has been putting in place friendly environment for doing business, a situation which has facilitated the Dar es Salaam Port to receive increased transit cargo.

Deputy Director of road safety in the Works Ministry, Mr Andrew Magombana, said they would meet the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA) and Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS) to seek immediate solution.

He assured that the government has been working shoulder by shoulder with the transporters in ensuring that friendly environment for doing business is in place to increase national revenue.

"Since the sector is big and the cargo has increased the government has issued the permits for construction of the Inland Container Depots (ICDs) in different places to enhance decongestion of containers at the port," he said.

On his part, chairman of association of long-haul truck drivers, Mr Hassan Dede urged the owners to improve benefits of drivers.