|
Pact on TRC operations is finally signed
2007-09-04 09:43:38
By Judica Tarimo
Tanzania and India`s RITES Company Ltd yesterday finally signed a pact under which the firm will run the giant State-owned Tanzania Railway Corporation under special arrangements.
``This signing ceremony marks the end of complex and prolonged but fruitful consultations on TRC`s concessioning,`` noted Infrastructure Development minister Andrew Chenge, who attended the function in Dar es Salaam.
The agreement paves the way for the official handing over of the corporation on lease basis to the newly and jointly established Tanzania Railway Ltd (TRL), in which the government has 49 per cent shareholding to Rites Ltd`s 51 per cent.
TRC`s operations are scheduled to be officially handed over to the concession company this October 1.
Under the 25-year contract, the government has formed an asset holding company called Reli Assets Holding Company (RAHCO) to oversee and monitor the implementation of the pact and ensure that it is complied with as agreed.
RAHCO will also monitor TRL`s performance alongside supervising the implementation of future investments in the railway`s infrastructure.
The agreement was signed by TRL Director Sudhir Kumar and Agnes Bukuku, acting Chairman RAHCO board of directors, and will see TRL act as the concessionaire so managing the TRC network as to provide efficient rail transport services.
The Surface and Marine Transport Regulatory Authority (Sumatra), a wing of the Infrastructure Development ministry, will act as regulator.
The signing ceremony was initially scheduled for last year but it was postponed for months after the investment partners - the government, Rites Ltd and the International France Corporation - differed on the terms and modalities of agreement.
A struggle for better terms has since locked experts and officials from the government and other investment partners in prolonged negotiations and re-negotiations, and hence the delay in the much-awaited handover.
``We were forced to work for the last one year and a half to ensure a sustainable concession and balanced risk allocation for the future development of the railway network,`` said minister Chenge.
A total of 3,204 TRC employees have been lined up for retrenchment while another 3,286 will be absorbed by TRL when the new management takes over.
``Employees to be absorbed will be employed on terms and conditions no less favourable than those they currently have with TRC. Those lined up for retrenchment will be paid promptly and in full,`` stated the minister.
He said the government and all the other stakeholders concerned have worked ``hard and judiciously” to ensure a smooth handover of staff, assets and responsibilities from TRC to TRL.
``TRL will make a significant contribution towards the financing arrangements for the initial capital investment programme,`` observed a buoyant Chenge, adding that top priority during the next few weeks would be to ensure that train passenger services from Dar es Salaam to upcountry stations resume.
The services were suspended months ago, with Dodoma taking over as both the embarking and disembarking station for passengers from and to Dar es Salaam and surrounding regions like Coast and Morogoro.
It was in 1998 that the government decided to change tack on the modalities of running TRC, as part of the continuing reform of the utilities and infrastructure sectors.
|
