Minister insists matatus to be phased out as planned

Transport minister Amos Kimunya on Monday dismissed any plans to increase the period for the phasing out of the 14-seater public transport matatusfrom the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD).

Stakeholders had requested that the period be extended by between three and seven years but Mr Kimunya insisted that they must be out of the CBD by next January as directed.

“Not only will this be done in the city and its environs, it will be slowly rolled out throughout the country. There shall be no registration of the 14-seaters anywhere, and we expect the existing ones to slowly die out naturally,” he said.

He was speaking on Monday at Serena hotel in Nairobi, while officiating the launch of the Transport Integrated Management (TIM) System, a joint project of five ministries.

Mr Kimunya said the project had been unanimously agreed on in a conference with stakeholders held last month and officiated by President Kibaki.

The project aims to bring together crucial information in the transport sector and is expected to bring about major changes in the industry and make it easier for all stakeholders to access any necessary information from one source. He stated that this was only one of the major reform programs being carried out by the government.

“The government is currently implementing reforms in various sectors of the economy aimed at enhancing service delivery to the citizens. These reforms have not ignored the use of Information Technology,” he said.

He warned that any government institution that would ignore Information Communication Technology (ICT)  would be overcome in relation to the quality and speed of offering services to its customers.

The ministry is implementing reforms in the road transport sector, geared towards attracting investments in the sector, leading to economic growth, improved performance and enforcement of road safety regulations in the country.

“The use of ICT is in line with the e-government strategy of facilitating smooth flow of information across government, as well as enable the general public and private institutions access to important information and services,” he added.

He also said the project will also work towards ending bribery and corruption on the roads.

Addressing the event, minister for Roads, Franklin Bett, remarked that his ministry was in the process of expanding the road network. He lauded the project, saying it will also affect activities in his ministry, by reducing what he termed as 'accidents on the roads’

“ The state of the roads cause only 4 per cent of accidents, while 85 per cent is caused by human error on our roads. They are therefore accidents on the road, and not road accidents a many may say,” he said, eliciting laughter from the audience.

He expressed concern over the destruction of road beautifications by wayward drivers, and the use of road shoulders by traffic though they are only meant for use during emergencies.

Internal security minister Prof. George Saitoti, endorsed the initiative by the ministry of Transport, saying ICT will go along way to restore peace on the road, and will be an alternative to road blocks.

“Once implemented, it will bring sanity to our roads. ICT has not been fully utilised to solve the problems on our roads. Road blocks are expensive to set up. This project will enable the officers to get information on errant vehicles and drivers beforehand and deal with them. This will be a fresh start,” he said.