THE Parliamentary Committee on Infrastructure has hailed the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) for its various initiatives that have brought major transformations on railway transport in the country.
Moreover, the committee asked the government and TRC to maintain the spirit for the sake of ensuring sustained effective delivery of railway transport services.
Speaking on Wednesday during an inspection tour to the TRC workshop in Morogoro, Committee Chairperson Selemani Kakoso also emphasised the importance of the TRC management to continue coming up with innovative business ideas to enable the entity to operate commercially.
He said this will serve as a compliment to major investment that the government has put in place on railway sector including the ongoing construction of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line form Dar es Salaam to Tabora, Mwanza, Mpanda and the upcoming project that will link Kigoma and the neighbouring countries in the western part.
Mr Kakoso also expressed the need for the corporation to promote achievements that have been recorded for awareness creation among members of the public within and outside the country.
“TRC is doing a great job, we are all the witnesses of transformation that have been made in recent years, we need these achievements to be well advertised within and outside the country,” he said.
Mr Kakoso assured the committee of full support on ensuring all the targets that TRC is working on are well attained, given the corporations’ dedications on continued efforts to ensure better services to Tanzanians, a move that will help in boosting economy at individual and national level.
He also asked the government through the Ministry of Works and Transport to ensure the corporation is furnished with enough human resources for it to continue delivering quality services.
Earlier, the TRC Acting Managing Director Amina Lumuli said the corporation has secured permission from the President’s Office Public Services Management and Good Governance to recruit 201 new staff, a move that will play a crucial role in addressing the shortage of manpower.
“Upon recruitment of these staff, the shortage will be minimised,” she said adding TRC through its Morogoro workshop is capable of servicing, maintaining and repairing locomotives and engines at 80 per cent.
For his part, Deputy Minister for Works and Transport (Transport Portfolio) Atupele Mwakibete assured that the government will also continue with rehabilitation and maintenance of the infrastructures of the Meter Gauge Railway (MGR) line.
