Many passengers stranded at DAR regional bus stand

HUNDREDS of passengers were stranded at the Ubungo Bus Terminal in Dar es Salaam yesterday, which compelled the Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (SUMATRA) to authorise buses, which were not earmarked for upcountry routes to transport passengers.

SUMATRA inspector, Mr Thomas Matope, told the ‘Sunday News’ at the terminal in the city that the situation was caused by the limited number of upcountry buses as most of them were hired to transport students ready for the schools’ reopening tomorrow.

“Most of the buses have been hired by some schools in upcountry regions to transport their students from Dar es Salaam as the number of upcountry passengers was also high, hence the inconvenience,” he explained.

Mr Matope, however, assured travellers that no buses will be allowed to hike fares as a result of the situation, pledging that SUMATRA will inspect all the tickets sold to passengers before they were flagged out of the terminal.

“What happened is that most of the buses reduced their bus fares to attract more passengers. But since today (yesterday), most buses have started

charging fares recommended by SUMATRA. No bus has charged fare beyond the recommended fee as we inspect them before leaving here,” the SUMATRA inspector further explained.

However, according to the ‘Sunday News’ survey, the fare hike was caused by passengers who were willing to pay more to get tickets from the agents. In another development, the Traffic Officer-In-Charge at Ubungo Bus Terminal, Inspector Ibrahim Samwix, said the buses with temporary permits have been fully inspected to ensure passengers’ safety.

“It’s better to hold people here at Ubungo rather than allowing them to travel on buses that are not qualified for long journeys,” he said. Inspector Samwix issued a strong warning to bus owners against transporting passengers upcountry without SUMATRA and Traffic Police permits to avoid unnecessary accidents.
“There are dishonest bus operators who wanted to take advantage of the situation today by transporting passengers without being inspected by SUMATRA. This is not proper as it puts travellers’ safety at much risk,” the inspector said.

SUMATRA has been keeping a close eye to check rampant bus fare hike when the number of people wishing to travel is high, issuing temporary permits to bus operators to provide services during the period.
Last year, the transport industry regulator applied the same measures to reduce pressure on available buses since the number of passengers during the end-of-the-year festive season is usually high.

SUMATRA’s Director of Licence Regulations, Mr Mohammed Zander, said temporary permits will be issued only to buses whose safety in transporting passengers has been certified by the authority.