AfricaPress-Tanzania: THE Chief Government Chemist Office has warned drivers who transport chemicals to abide by rules and regulations governing the transportation of the substance or else face a 2.5m/- penalty.
Untrained drivers are likely to face the penalty because they are ignorant of how best they can transport the chemicals, according to Mr Daniel Ndio, Director of Regulatory Services in the Government’s Chief Chemist Laboratory.
He said this during a two-day training workshop attended by about 30 drivers.
Mr Ndio added that a penalty of 5m/- also awaited vehicle owners who would be found hiring untrained drivers to transport the chemicals.
“The Industrial and Consumer Chemicals (Management and Control) Act, 2003 (No 3 of 2003) requires drivers to undergo chemical transportation training to protect people’s health and environment,” Mr Ndio said.
For his part, Chief Government Chemist Acting Manager for Lake Zone Dastan Mkapa said drivers were among the key stakeholders required to know the do’s and don’ts when dealing with chemicals.
Gapi Company driver from Shinyanga, Mr Komanya Patrick, stressed a need for conducting regular chemical training of all drivers in all sectors across the country given the fact that drivers’ lives are nomadic in nature.
“We keep on shifting from one sector to another due to various reasons, including searching for green pastures. We should receive all type of training relating to road safety laws and regulations to enable us match different situations,” Mr Patrick said.
“We sometimes work with companies where chemicals are frequently used, including mining companies. Apart from that, we can also be ambassadors in our society, disseminating chemical related knowledge to our fellow community members.”
About 30 drivers from the Lake Zone have attended training.
