FEW days after the Minister of Works, Transport and Communications, Prof Makame Mbarawa, announced toll charges for the Nyerere Bridge that links Dar es Salaam city with Kigamboni creek, has already raised complaints from the city dwellers who appeal to the government to revisit the charges.
The charges which will become effective from May 14 range from 300/- to 75,000/-, pedestrians will cross free of charge while the indicative price for bicycle users is 300/-. Speaking to 'Daily News,' a resident of Toangoma, Mr Juma Shaibu, said he was happy to see the bridge commence operations, but the charges for saloon cars should be reduced at least to 1000/-.
"The toll charges should be reviewed as I expected it to be different from those of Kigamboni Ferry; the bridge is what we have been waiting for," he said. Mr Shaibu said if the toll charges are similar to those we use to pay at ferry then the government would not be helpful at all to us middle income earners.
Another resident of Kigamboni, Mr Amos Nangashe, said toll charges for saloon cars should be reduced and compensate them by increasing charges to business vehicles. "We are happy with the government effort of constructing the bridge but reviewing the charges is very crucial for them to suit us all," said Mr Nangashe.
He further argued that Kigamboni Ferry costs are on the high side simply because the ferry operations needs fuel to run it and the employees need to be paid their salaries on monthly basis while no expenses are incurred on the bridge operations.
Therefore, he said, why there should be such high charges for users. When contacted for comment the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) officials said they were not responsible for allocating the toll charges, thus responsible ministry should be contacted for that.
The Communications Officer in the Ministry of Transport, Mr Biseko Ibrahim, said the bridge was constructed by pensioners funds, thus should be refunded to NSSF and the toll charges are reasonable. "All important stakeholders were involved in the whole process and came up with those charges," he elaborated.
For two-wheeler motorcycles, riders will have to pay 600/- while tricycle push carts, 'guta', three-wheeled motorcycles (bajaji) and saloon cars will have to part with 1,500/- only. For vehicles such as pickups (two tonnes) and station wagons, drivers will have to pay 2,000/- while mini-buses carrying up to 15 passengers will be charged 3,000/-.
The rest are vehicles carrying above 15 up to 29 passengers will be charged some 5,000/-, vehicles carrying more than 29 passengers, tractors without trailer and vehicles above two to seven tonnes will pay 7,000/-.
Tractors with trailer and vehicles above seven to 15 tonnes (10,000/-) and those from 15 to 20 tonnes will have to pay 15,000/-, while those above 20 up to 30 tonnes will pay 20,000/-.Vehicles carrying heavy loads will have to pay 75,000/- apart from obtaining permits from the Ministry of Works, Transport and Communications.
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