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Dar’s Temeke terminus now a ’white elephant’
2006-03-29 08:18:52
By Patrick Kisembo
The newly constructed Temeke Mwisho bus terminus in Dar es Salaam that cost millions of shillings to build has turned into a white elephant after daladalas switched to Tandika terminus.
Temeke Municipal Council Public Relations Officer David Mgonja said in an interview last weekend that the terminus is underutilised since it was built three years ago.
He said the terminus cost the municipality more than 21m/-.
Commuter buses avoid the terminus for what drivers and touts say is lack of passengers.
A weeklong survey of the terminus has established that a shortage of passengers has forced many commuter buses to shift to the more lucrative routes in the area.
It was established that many public service vehicles (PSVs) owners prefer the Tandika route because it more profitable.
’Many drivers prefer Tandika because the number of commuters is high there,’ said Ally Nassoro, a businessman, adding that the terminus has remained unutilised since it was built in 2001.
’Not a single bus uses the stage. I work here, but all the commuter buses from Mbagala, Kariakoo, Station, Posta and Kivukoni just stop on the road to pick up and drop passengers without entering the terminus,’ he said.
Daladalas have abandoned the Temeke-Kawe and Temeke-Ubungo routes forcing commuters to and from Kawe and Ubungo to travel via Tandika where buses are many.
He also blamed bus owners, saying that they deliberately ignored the terminus soon after it was commissioned.
’The problem is not entirely with the bus owners, but also the location of the Tandika market because it is the main economic centre of the district. The market has forced many daladalas to shift to where it is situated as it has many commuters,’ he said.
Mgonja said: ’We are soon going to start collaborating with the municipal police and traffic police to ensure that the terminus is used.’
He said that as a long term solution to the problem, the municipality was planning to make Temeke-Mwisho a starting point for all the routes in the municipality and that all the daladala must pass through the terminal to other routes.
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