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Wadau, inasemekana hii ajali ya treni ilisababishwa na 'sabotage' yaani kuna watu walienda na kuondoa misumari kwenye njia ya reli kwa maksudi! Treni ilipata ajali kati ya Mkata na Mazimbu. Nchi yetu inakwenda wapi?!
Ninaomba waliosababisha ajali hiyo wachukuliwa hatua kali za kisheria na hata wapew adhabu ya kifo! Wapepelezi wafanya kazi hao washenzi wakamatwe!
Ni mwaka 2009, kwa nini Central Line bado ina reli moja tu, badala ya mbili zinazopishana? Reli ni ile ile tuliyoachiwa na wakoloni! Ninakumbuka kusafiri sana na Central Line kwenda Tabora Girls na kuona familia enzi hizo.
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70 Injured as Train Derails
Na Robert Ochieng
9th August 2009
One of the injured passenger get treatment at Morogoro Regional Hospital yestarday.
About 70 commuters were injured, scores of them critically, when their Kigoma/Mwanza-bound passenger train from Dar es Salaam derailed in Kilosa district in Morogoro region, Railway Police Commander Ruth Makelemo has said.
Makelemo said the accident occurred at around 3 a.m., when the locomotive’s engine including its six trailing coaches overturned between Mkata and Mazimbu villages.
She said the accident victims were taken to Morogoro Regional Hospital, where some were treated and discharged while others, who sustained serious injuries, were admitted for thorough treatment.
With investigations to establish the cause of the accident underway, she said, Tanzania Railways Limited (TRL) had provided another locomotive for the unhurt passengers of the ill-fated train to continue with their journey.
Railway officials opine sabotage after they discovered a spanner, which they suspect was used to unscrew two bolts from the rails, but said they were waiting for the outcome of their joint investigation with the police.
Morogoro Police Commander Tobias Andengenye said that a team of police investigators had been dispatched to the accident scene.
“Right now, it is too early to give any conclusive remarks since we do not have all the facts yet. However, as soon as we have a final report in place, we’ll let you know the cause of the incident and our next line of action,” RPC Andengenye said over the phone.
Morogoro Regional Commissioner Issa Machibya, who visited the accident scene, however, cited foul play after unknown people pulled out the rails.
As recently as last week, rail workers downed their tools demanding better pay and improved working conditions, but TRL manager Hundj-Lalshaudhary quickly dismissed links between the protests and the accident.
The workers resumed their duties after a deal was struck between them and the management, with the latter agreeing to look into the grievances of the former, which have constantly put the two sides at loggerheads since the organisation was privatised.
Nzega MP Lucas Selelii (CCM) last month described controversy-riddled TRL as bearing the hallmarks of the infamous Richmond corruption scandal.
Selelii, a member of the parliamentary select committee chaired by Dr Harrison Mwakyembe that investigated the Richmond power generation scandal, said in an interview with a local daily that reports of a contract for the leasing of locomotive engines and coaches from India were “scandalous.’’
He said the Government, through TRL, had been forced to pay much-inflated rental fees and capacity charges for the hired equipment - in a similar manner to how the state-run Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (TANESCO) was financially crippled by the Richmond deal.
According to the MP, the second-hand locomotives and coaches were being leased from India at a staggering cost of $31m (approx. 41bn/-).
Going by the provisions of the lease agreement, this means TRL would eventually be forced to pay a whopping 4.555bn/- in capacity charges for 25 locomotive engines and 23 coaches.
In addition to these capacity charges, the financially-troubled railway firm has already had to folk out a total of 1.181bn/- for the shipment of the engines from India to the port of Dar es Salaam.
Last week when contributing to the debate on the 2009/10 budget proposals of the Ministry of Infrastructure Development in Parliament, the Nzega legislator was one of several MPs who launched strong arguments for the TRL contract to be terminated forthwith.
The contract itself sees the Indian investor company RITES Limited owning 51 per cent of shares in the company while the Tanzanian Government maintains a minority 49 per cent stake.
Selelii said that the privatisation of TRL amounted to “daylight robbery’’ and blasted the Government for entertaining such a poor deal.
He asserted that the investor firm leased worn-out engines and coaches to TRL, which is now paying through its nose for the dilapidated equipment imported from India.
The Government has said a special task force appointed to review the TRL privatisation contract with a view of amending some of the key provisions therein, has already completed its task.
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