Dar es Salaam. Transport minister Samuel Sitta has stopped importation of the remaining 124 passenger and freight wagons supplied by an Indian firm to Tanzania Railway Limited (TRL) pending a report by a taskforce that was mandated to investigate claims that they were defective.
The minister also ordered the board to prepare a
report on the same by Friday. The report should recommend, among other
things, the fate of the six senior TRL officials who were suspended in
connection with the scam.
TRL signed two contracts with an Indian company in
2013 for the purchase of 25 freight wagons worth Sh8.3 billion and 274
passenger wagons worth about Sh51 billion.TRL has so far received 150
passenger wagons and the remaining 124 were expected to arrive by the
end of this month. The carriages in question were purchased from India’s
Hindustan Engineering and Industries.
“I have ordered the chairman and the board to make
sure the report is ready by Friday this week and this will determine
the decision on the matter,” said Mr Sitta.
During a press conference yesterday Mr Sitta said
if the report would prove any irregularities the government would not
hesitate to take serious actions against the supplier. He said the first
actions would be to terminate the contract on grounds of lack of trust
and take anyone involved to court over charges of economic sabotage.
The minister said most of the claims emerged due
to the fact that the wagons have been at the centre of frequent
accidents. TRL informed the supplier which sent engineers to fix the
carriages.
“We are serious on this and the engineering
department will help us in inspecting them because we want to satisfy
ourselves that the wagons are durable,” he said. He said TRL did not
incur a loss because it did not make full payment for the consignment as
the contract allows the purchaser to withhold part of the payment until
the wagons are tested within the warrant period.
He, however, said TRL had so far been operating on
a high note, saying it had made profits up to the end of last year due
to the increase in freight wagons.
“Last January we got $38 million profit up to July
whereby from October to December the profit bounced to $140million,”
said the minister.
Six TRL officials were sent home to pave the way for investigation into their alleged role in the procurement tender.
Former Transport minister Dr Harrison Mwakyembe
ordered the suspension of the officials, including the company’s deputy
managing director and chief of finance director, pending investigation.
On the persistent complaints from workers
regarding low salaries Mr Sitta said he work on all the promises made by
his predecessor saying he was concerned with their welfare.
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