Traders count their losses as rains ravage roads, markets

Dar/Arusha/Iringa. Traders in several major urban centres in Tanzania are counting their losses after heavy rains rendered some key markets virtually inaccessible.

The hardest-hit regions include Dar es Salaam, Arusha, Kilimanjaro, Iringa and Mbeya.

Equally affected were operators of motorcycle taxis, popularly known as bodabodas, following a sharp drop in demand for their services.

The Citizen visited the usually bustling Mabibo market in Dar es Salaam – which is renowned for ripe and unripe bananas, avocados, oranges, mangoes and vegetables – and established that conditions had deteriorated to an extent  that it was difficult for traders and shoppers alike to move around.

“The muddy situation makes it quite challenging for us and our customers. Also, a number of lorries that bring fresh produce to this market daily are stuck upcountry due to damaged roads. This is raising the cost of doing business,” lamented a trader at the market, Ms Halima Mgana.

A wholesale trader dealing in potatoes and onions, Mr Alid Ally, shared similar sentiments.

“Mabibo receives the bulk of potatoes consumed in Dar es Salaam. As a result of this situation, some potatoes end up rotting right here at the market and there is nothing we can do,” he said, adding that transporting produce from farms upcountry was in itself a huge challenge in some regions.

“Usually, a lorry takes one and a half days to reach this market, but now it takes up to four days or more. The extra costs are eating into our meagre profits despite the government striving to improve conditions at the market,” Mr Ally said.

The facility’s manager, Mr Geoffrey Mbwama, said they are working around the clock to improve conditions, including repairing areas that have been rendered impassable by rains.

“We started by prioritising slots that have been seriously affected and are now impassable due to thick mud,” he said.

At the city’s Mchikichini market, which attracts multitudes seeking to buy second-hand goods, traders said business has slowed down to almost a standstill.

The chairman of the traders’ association at the market, Mr Geoffrey Milonge, said, “Large-scale buyers are conspicuously absent and this has exacerbated our problems.”

The market’s manager, Mr Jafari Bakari, acknowledged the hardships posed by incessant rains, but was optimistic about future prospects.

“Efforts are underway to modernise the market, with budget allocations already earmarked for infrastructural enhancements,” he said.

Buguruni market, another vibrant shopping area in the city, was also grappling with similar challenges.

A trader, Ms Mariam Abdul, expressed her frustration, saying,  “Delays in deliveries are crippling us financially.”

The situation was equally bleak in Arusha, Tanzania’s tourism capital.

The chairman of the Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) in the region, Mr Walter Maeda, said transportation of raw materials that feed productive industries has been seriously affected by floods, bringing factories to a near-standstill.

“Some business outlets have been submerged in water, while many people no longer go out to shop due to the ongoing rains,” he said, adding that the rains have destroyed infrastructure and business premises, causing entrepreneurs huge losses.

Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (Tato) chairman Wilbard Chambulo said almost all roads at national parks in the northern tourism circuit are impassable as a result of heavy rains.

“We have been hit hard by the weather, especially at this time when the high season is beginning to pick up,” said Mr Chambulo, who runs the Kibo Safaris tour company and operates a chain of tourist hotels and lodges.

He said drivers are sometimes compelled to postpone excursions into national parks, or stay at one destination for an extended time, waiting for submerged sections of roads to be either repaired or dry up.

The Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA) has closed several roads in the conservancy, including the Ngoitokitok and Lerai routes, due to excessive rains.

NCAA said in a statement on Saturday that the road from Endulen Village to Ndutu plains has also been closed due to some flooded sections.

As is the case in Dar es Salaam and Iringa, bodabodas are also finding it hard to operate in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions.

“When it rains, people avoid boarding motorcycles for obvious reasons. Business has been very slow in recent months as a result of the El Nino weather phenomenon,” said the executive secretary of the Association of Bodaboda Operators in Arusha City, Mr Hakimu Msemo.

The Tanzania National Roads Agency (Tanroads) Arusha regional manager, Mr Reginald Massawe, said the government has set aside Sh2.5 billion in emergency funding for the rehabilitation of infrastructure damaged by rains.

In Iringa, Kilolo MP Justine Nyamoga witnessed the inconvenience caused by heavy rains first-hand during a visit to Masisiwe Ward.

The vehicle carrying Mr Nyamoga and a number of journalists got bogged down in mud, prompting them to opt for bodabodas, which, however, were not of much help.

Eventually, they resorted to walking, covering a distance of over 20 kilometres.

El Nino rains have cut off road communications in the area even though the road was constructed just last year.

For the past two months, Masisiwe, a ward with fertile land suitable for the cultivation of maize, potatoes, vegetables, fruits and forestry products, has had no means of transportation other than walking.

A timber trader in the area, Mr Sadrick Kiyeyeu, complained to Mr Nyamoga that his house is in danger of being auctioned off after he failed to sell the timber he bought with a bank loan. The timber has since rotted.

For the past two months, he stated, there have been stacks of timber piled up along the roadside, with no vehicle able to reach the area.

“It’s a dire situation. These timber stacks could fill more than six lorries. I have taken a Sh50 million loan. We are asking for help,” Mr Kiyeyeu pleaded.

Along the entire route to Masisiwe, there were piles of abandoned timber on the roadside.

Another resident, Mr James Sabela, shared his story of losing Sh3 million after his harvest of cabbages rotted in the field because no vehicle could come to pick them up.

According to Masisiwe residents, between eight to 14 vehicles carrying various products used to pass through the area on a daily basis, but they have been nowhere to be seen since the rains began.

Reported by Ramadhan Ismail (Dar es Salaam), Bertha Ismail (Arusha) and Tumaini Msowoya (Iringa)