Following closure of Mwenge bus stand Dar es Salaam commuters were yesterday forced to walk to Makumbusho area to connect routes, complaining of increased fare costs and poor coordination of the move.
The Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) closed the Mwenge bus stop and ordered all buses using the stand to relocate to Makumbusho bust stop.
Dejected passengers, mostly from Kariakoo, Posta, Temeke and Mbagala who could not afford the fare to connect to their destinations, had to walk the rest of the way, as buses ended trips at Makumbusho.
Sumatra Officer In-Charge of the Eastern Zone, Conrad Shio told The Guardian in a telephone interview that Mwenge stand was meant to be an open space and that it was earmarked by the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS) as a reserve.
According to the officer, SUMATRA is just an implementer because the order to shift the bus stop to Makumbusho was given to them by the Kinondoni Municipal Council.
“We received the directive from Kinondoni Municipal council that Mwenge stand has been wrongly located for years…the area is a reserve for road expansion. So we are just implementers,” said Shio.
He however said that another factor that led to closure of the stand is its being situated at the junction between Bagamoyo/Ali Hassan Mwinyi, Sam Nujoma and Mikocheni-CocaCola roads.
“The stand caused unnecessary traffic jam especially during peak hours. Its removal will help to end the congestion,” said Shio adding that there are several electrical poles passing through the area, posing a threat to traders and people using the stand.
Responding to commuter complaints, he said that SUMATRA had informed the general public some weeks before closure of the stand. He admitted that some people will have to pay more to reach their destinations, but what is being done aims at protecting lives and easing congestion.
The Guardian visited both bus stands whereby passengers and drivers were both complaining over the changes. Most of the interviewed passengers complained of increased transport fare, now that they are forced to pay twice to reach Mwenge.
Masoud Nyaki who had boarded a commuter bus from Temeke with the understanding that it was heading to Mwenge was surprised to be told that ‘daladalas’ for such a route were now to end at Makumbusho.
He said: “I had budgeted to use 1,200/- for transport…I decided to walk to Mwenge so that I could save 600/- for fare back home”.
Another passenger, Jesca Kategile residing near Mbuyuni Primary school in Kinondoni District said she spent 800/- to reach Mwenge which means she needed to set aside 1,600/- for transport every day.
“The new system is costly…the fare has doubled as I have to board two commuter buses to get to the office,” she complained.
Another passenger who asked for anonymity said he was forced to take a bajaj, and pay 4,000/- in his rush to get to work in the city centre, only to be dropped at some point, far from his workplace. The tricycles are barred from entering the central business district.
Meanwhile drivers have complained that the Makumbusho stand was not big enough to accommodate all the commuter buses. They said that there are more than 100 buses plying between Makumbusho and Bagamoyo in the Coast Region.
They said that before closure of Mwenge terminal, there were some commuter buses using the Makumbusho stand and that adding more buses has resulted into chaos.
One of the drivers, Charles Mazrui said: “The space is limited; we are forced to leave the terminal even when we don’t have passengers to allow other commuters to enter the stand and offload passengers,” he said.
He also said the move had apparently caught some passengers by surprise. “Some passengers demanded a refund so that they could board other commuters to reach Mwenge, apparently not being aware of the new arrangement.”
Business was paralysed at Mwenge as some stalls were closed while those open had very few customers.
Security was tightened at Mwenge bus stand with police officers patrolling the area to make sure that no bus entered the terminal.
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