330 city bus plan drivers for training

What you need to know:

The training is offered by Chinese trainers in cooperation with the National Institute of Transport (NIT) and the Vocational Education and Training Authority (Veta).

Dar es Salaam. A training programme for 330 drivers for the interim phase of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) was officially launched here yesterday by the minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Regional Administration and Local government), Ms Hawa Ghasia.

She said it was a good idea to train the drivers to meet the objective of having the modern city transport, given that passengers need excellent services.

She said there would be an automated system of operating the system to establish any misconduct.

The training is offered by Chinese trainers in cooperation with the National Institute of Transport (NIT) and the Vocational Education and Training Authority (Veta).

According to Veta Chang’ombe Principal Samuel Ng’andu, 149 drivers have been trained in driving and the next phase is to train 181 others to make the total of 330 drivers. A hundred technicians for the project will also be trained. “There is a need to continue training our drivers to equip them with driving skills that fit the technological changes,” he said.

Dar es Salaam Regional Commissioner Said Mecky Sadick warned the trainees to avoid malpractices when doing their job as driving needs high care and discipline to avoid accidents.

“You will be operating a 20km route from Kimara to Kivukoni which has an average of 450,000-500,000 passengers daily. You must be disciplined.” The chairman of the Steering Committee, Dr Didas Masaburi, praised the government for allowing local bus operators to give services in the interim phase of the project.