Weather forecasts suggest that parts of Tanzania are already – or will soon be – experiencing rains, the only difference being in intensity and duration. Not much as such in the reports, as rains are often supposed to support human survival and development.
But, alas, not that much for poor Dar es Salaam, where even a fleeting drizzle can mean road traffic congestion severely limiting navigability in the city. This is largely because most roads get clogged as rainwater soon translates into raging floodwaters, mainly owing to poor drainage.
This is a common phenomenon, and one would be excused to wonder what is wrong with the city and municipal authorities. The fact that all agreements involving road projects works are supposed to include clauses on quality and longevity guarantees does not seem to have much meaning, unless some curious senior government official intervenes.
But while the poor state of roads is without doubt one of the major causes of traffic jams in the city and other urban areas, the selfishness of some motorists and the way road patrol police officers control traffic conspire to make a bad situation all the worse.
Many motorists, especially those driving the commuter buses commonly called daladala, often do not observe speed limits –they drive very fast where they shouldn’t or very slowly where they should be doing otherwise.
Worse still, some motorists have no consideration for other road users, including children and old or sick people. Driven chiefly by the profit motive, all they are most interested in is making as many return trips as possible.
In the course of doing so, however, the possibility of their getting involved in accidents increases – which would mean disrupting the flow of traffic until police officers arrive and clear the mess.
But there a side-factor here in that the way some traffic police officers operate when controlling the movement of cars, especially at peak hours, leaves much to be desired. Sometimes there are no officers at notorious road junctions badly needing special attention.
This adds to traffic jams because every motorist would want to drive past the junction as fast as possible but the result is that there so many vehicles that not a single one moves any more!
At other road junctions, traffic lights do not work and motorists are, as it were, left to their own devices. It similarly soon degenerates into some sort of rule of the jungle – survival of the fittest.
Yet at other road junctions the lights work all right but, to the surprise of many observers, traffic police officers are busy directing motorists – much to the chagrin of most road users particularly when there is evidence of poor judgment by the officers.
Road traffic jams have become endemic in Dar es Salaam, but they would not be a menace of the seriousness witnessed if all road users and traffic police officers observed road use regulations.
The congestion on our roads costs the nation a fortune in terms of work-hours lost, etc., with some studies suggesting that loss stands at over 400 billion/- every year in Dar es Salaam alone. The situation calls for urgent remedial action.
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