THE National Institute of Transport (NIT) has advised Tanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS) to stop renewing contracts with companies inspecting motor vehicles on pre-shipment abroad and assign the task to local firms to save the much-needed foreign exchange.
NIT Rector Prof Zacharia Mganilwa said in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday that the institute has modern vehicle inspection tools to carry on the task instead of spending foreign currency for inspecting vehicles in Japan, United Kingdom, Dubai or the United States.
“TBS has been using foreign agencies for motor vehicle inspection abroad using foreign currency. This job can now be done by NIT,” he said.
“I appeal to TBS to end contracts with foreign companies. Instead of charging 150 US dollars as inspection fee per vehicle, that fee can be reduced here. We want to see how billions of shillings can remain in our country.”
According to Prof Mganilwa, NIT has the ability to inspect more than 1,000 motor vehicles per day at its new centre located in Mabibo area in Dar es Salaam.
The institute has invested in modern technology at its motor vehicle inspection centre specifically to boost the transport sector.
The modern technology at the NIT centre is equivalent to that applied in developed countries such as Japan, United Kingdom, Dubai and the US.
The main objective of inspecting imported vehicles locally is to ensure that they meet the required standards and are road worthy.
“We have improved our motor vehicle inspection department so as to ensure it performs well,” the NIT chief said.
According to the Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee, the government lost 12.16bn/-between 2002-2011 due to improper inspection of imported vehicles.
In 2010 the committee directed TBS to conduct vehicle inspection in the country, saying it was unfair for the government to get a mere 10 US dollars out of every 150 US dollars to 200 US dollars paid by Tanzanians for each vehicle inspected abroad.
