AfricaPress-Tanzania: TRAVEL disruptions which ensued after some of members of the Tanzania Bus Owners Association (TABOA) grounded vehicles despite an agreement with the government to suspend the boycott are regrettable, the association said yesterday.
TABOA Secretary General Joseph Priscus said in the city yesterday that some members had delayed or completely cancelled long haul bus trips, as they were in negotiations with government officials which ended at 10 in the morning.
“We agreed to suspend the planned boycott but this information did not reach some of our members in time,” he said.
Priscus said that at present trips will continue as scheduled as it engages in negotiations with government agencies involved in the matter namely the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA) and the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA)
There were inter-regional travel disruptions in some regions as a number of bus owners delayed or grounded vehicles due to unresolved electronic ticketing issues, reports indicated.
Mwanza Regional Traffic Officer Joyce Kotecha was forced to intervene as most buses delayed leaving the main Nyegezi terminal in what was termed as a go-slow over pending e-ticketing disputes.
“If they have genuine issues, they are supposed to raise the same with relevant authorities for resolution. What they did is sell tickets to passengers then refuse to take them to the agreed destinations,” she said.
The traffic police intervention was prompted by a huge number of passengers stranded at the stand as bus operators, drivers, conductors and booked vehicles were nowhere to be seen at the terminal.
A reporter who arrived at the Mbeya terminal at 06:15 departure time saw buses plying other routes were leaving but.those plying Mbeya-Iringa-Dodoma-Singida and Mbeya-Shinyanga-Mwanza routes were nowhere to be seen.
Juma Mohamed, the manager of Isamilo, one of the bus operators, said he grounded tools after receiving a phone call from his bosses directing him to do just that.
“The bone of contention is electronic ticketing which the government wants us to use; we will be waiting for guidance from our bosses on the way forward,” he elaborated.
Ndamo Jidaha, a Lake Zone-bound stranded passenger from Chunya district was among those who were left with no option but to wait at the terminal.
The passenger said that would-be travellers passengers were told that would be put on Isamilo bus but when they went to the Isamilo office, they found it locked and no passengers were allowed to enter.
LATRA launched e-ticketing last week, requiring bus operators to use Point of Sale (PoS) machines in paying fares and passengers with smart phones purchase tickets electronically.
Aday after its launch TABORA members held a meeting which resolved that members ground their vehicles if issues they raised with regard to e-ticketing are not addressed.
TABOA leaders are particularly irate with PoS machines which require them to deposit some amount of money into its functioning, saying the system works to their disadvantage.
