Tales of Bodaboda riders, newspaper vendors and daladala operators as Tazara flyover opens

Dar es Salaam. An adage that ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’ may have been well pronounced in Dar es Salaam as the city’s Tazara flyover opens for use.

Construction of the $45 million (about Sh100 billion) project, which is fully-funded by the Government of Japan through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), is almost complete, bringing a massive relief to motorists passing through the junction between Mandela and Nyerere roads.

With the government opening the flyover for use by motorists, commuters, commonly known as daladalas, crossing the junction to/from Gongo la Mboto, Simu 2000, Mbagala, Temeke, Mnazi Mmoja, Masaki and Kawe among others are putting on broad smiles as they cash in on the newest addition to Dar es Salaam’s skyline.

“Before the flyover, we could do a maximum of six trips (12 if counted on to and fro basis) between 05:00am and 12:00am but since the opening of the flyover, we no longer spend much of our time in the traffic jams so we now do a maximum of ten trips (20 if counted on to and fro basis) per day,” said a daladala conductor whose bus commutes between Gongo la Mboto and Mnazi Mmoja, Mr Shaaban Khalfan.

This, he said, translates into increased earnings and low fuel consumption.

The flyover has also made it possible for traders and workers to get to their respective work stations on time and also while with fresh minds.

But all is not well with operators of motorbike taxis (commonly known as bodabodas) as well as newspaper and water/soft drink vendors at the junction.

“To me, this is bad news. Our job hugely relied on people who would get tired of waiting for their turns in the traffic jam but now, we are almost idle,” said a bodaboda, Mr Issa Msojo.

He is however happy that the flyover has helped to reduce the number of accidents involving bodaboda riders. Newspaper and water/soft drink vendors are no longer vending their products since the flyover was opened for use on Saturday, September 15, 2018 ahead of President Magufuli’s official launch of the project next month.

Construction of the Tazara flyover started in 2016.