EDITORIAL: Act on Udart crisis

It’s unacceptable that once again, commuters have had to deal with a major transport crisis caused by the perennial chaos at Udart. This time round, thousands of city commuters who mostly depend on the Dar es Salaam Rapid Transport’s blue buses were left stranded after drivers downed tools over unpaid salaries.

And this time round, President John Magufuli had to also intervene by issuing a stern warning to Dart managing director Ronald Lwakatare, according to a press briefing by Regional Administration and Local Government minister Suleiman Jafo.

One can only hope that the management takes the President’s warning, and address the disorder, which has apparently, become the order of the day at Udart.

Regional authorities have also complained about the manner in which this award-winning public transport system is being run. Yet it seems that the cries of Dar es Salaam commuters and complaints from key stakeholders are falling on deaf ears.

There is a general feeling that the project has not met with the expectations of all stakeholders due to various hurdles, including poor management. What was meant to ease the commuting burden in the commercial capital has instead turned into pain.

It’s high time the authorities moved to help rescue the situation before the fleet is grounded over issues that can be easily fixed. A project like this cannot be let to go down the drain because of weaknessess in management.