How expert advice is crucial in making BRT work in Tanzania

Revelations that contractors who worked on the headquarters of Dar es Salaam Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) in the city ignored recommendations by the National Environment Management Council (NEMC) are shocking, given the public interest in the whole project.

Just a few years old now, the headquarters in the notorious Jangwani area where the fleet of the blue buses is parked, is rendered useless every rainy season due to floods, that have at times damaged buses, consequently affecting service delivery.

The government has now been forced back to the drawing board, according Environment minister January Makamba.

How did we get here? An environmental impact assessment was carried out, and recommendations made on how to avoid the very problem that this project is facing. It boggles the mind why they did not heed the recommendation to elevate the area where the facility is built – to allow rainwater to flow into the sea. But that work on the facility may have to be redone only a few years down the line is regrettable.

The revelation by the minister that Nemc recommendations were ignored raises a lot of questions about regulation. This laissez-faire attitude must not be condoned.