Dar residents: End traffic jams, please

Just as in many other parts of Dar es Salaam, motorists stranded at Mnazi Mmoja – along Bibi Titi Street – yesterday

Dar es salaam residents have called upon relevant authorities to take urgent steps to reduce - if not end - traffic jams that trap people in vehicles for hours.

Passengers and motorists interviewed by The Guardian yesterday said they had spent hours in traffic jams as a result of the rains yesterday, but even without rains the problem remained.


They blamed the jams on failure by traffic police to enforce the regulation that prohibits trucks from using the roads during daytime, lack of alternative roads especially during maintenance and failure by the police to control the traffic during night hours. 

Suleiman Mhula one of the minibus drivers operating between Mbezi and Posta via Ubungo said since the DART project started along Morogoro Road traffic jams have become worse along the route.

“The contractors and authorities were supposed to have come up with alternative roads to be used during the period. The end result is that traffic jam has worsened on this route. We used to make 15 return trips to Posta a day, but currently we can only do 10,” he lamented.

For her part, Veronica Maziku – a minibus passenger told this paper that Sumatra, Traffic Police and other authorities have failed to control the movement of transit vehicles and trucks within the city.

“These vehicles are the cause of heavy traffic jams on routes into and out of the city. I know that they are only supposed to operate at night but they leave and enter the city anytime these days. They contribute to traffic jams,” she said, adding that she was trapped in one place for more than an hour along Mandela road.

Patrick Kasembe another minibus driver on the Tegeta-Nyuki- Mwenge Road said the authorities should be more active in directing traffic to minimise traffic jams.

For his part, Shadrack Nehemia – motorcyclist said traffic jams are just too many these days leading to chaos.

“The situation is worsening. But I think traffic police officers should be working day and night even when it is raining as it did today. Look at the jam and yet this evening you will find no traffic officers. There is chaos. Even motorcyclists fail to find their way,” he said.

But one of the passengers, Idda Ally, called on traffic officers who direct cars at road junctions to be more objective.

“I thought these officers at road junctions would reduce traffic jam, but this is not the case. When they are there drivers behave,” she told the paper.

Efforts by The Guardian to get a comment from Chief Traffic Police Commander, Mohamed Mpinga, continue after six calls on his mobile number went unanswered yesterday.