|
TABOA discredits AKIBOA on night travel
2008-07-20 11:31:09
By Darius Mukiza
Recent remarks by bus operators of Arusha and Kilimanjaro that buses should not travel at night do not disturb Tanzania Bus Owners Association (TABOA) which considers the Arusha Kilimanjaro Bus Owners Association (AKIBOA) an association of commuter buses.
The government announced recently through chief of traffic police James Kombe that upcountry buses could travel up to midnight instead of the previous deadline of 10 pm, to which AKIBOA says that would only serve to accelerate the number of motor accidents instead of controlling them.
``AKIBOA is like DARCOBOA of Dar es salaam. To them the issue of time is irrelevant as their buses need no more time beyond 9.00 pm.
They should not get involved in government decisions because such decisions are reached after thorough and strenuous study,`` said TABOA chairman Mohammed Abdullah recently.
AKIBOA leader Enea Mrutu had expressed worries that drivers would not control buses at night, suggesting that the extension should not have been made but Government should have reduced it instead. ``Let us ask ourselves what had made the government suspend night bus travel.
Why should they allow it now?`` he had questioned.
Night passenger transport was limited to 10 pm in the second phase government led by president Ali Hassan Mwinyi whose home affairs minister Augustine Mrema said it was a move to check on the increasing road carnage.
Together with that the government introduced other measures that included speed limit of 80km/hr through special speed governors which proved futile, necessitating bus operators appealing for a review to 100km/hr.
|
