بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
In Capitalism All Projects are Dens of Corruption and Clutches to Ordinary People
News:
Recently Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC) proposed fare for Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train routes from Dar es Salaam-Morogoro which is expected to commence on February, 2023.
Comment:
According to Land Transport Regulatory Authority in Tanzania (LATRA), TRC’s proposed fare for the third class would be Tsh 24,794 per adult, and Tsh 12,397 for kids aged between 4 to 12, while for the economy class is Tsh 29,752 per adult and Tsh 14,876 for kids.
In reality, these proposed fares are too high compared to the economic capacity of the majority of the people who live beyond poverty line, but many believed that an introduction of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) train routes would be for the fast and cheap service.
It is known for sure that the majority of people cannot afford such high prices, and that is why on May 2022, similar authority of the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA), issued the new fares guidelines for busses shuttle from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro in which Tsh 8,000 was for ordinary busses, while Tsh 11,000 for semi luxury busses. In fact, the current SGR fares neither consider people’s needs, reality of poverty and inability to pay such higher prices nor do they care for peoples affairs.
On the other side, it has to be noted that the issue of procurement of the said electric train wagons for SGR that arrived in Dar es Salaam in November 2022 sparkled a corruption suspicion and embezzlement of public funds. It was reported that each wagon costs about Tsh 2.2 billion, but it is believed that the real price for each wagon to be around Tsh 800-900 million. Kenya paid the equivalent of Tsh 980 million for the similar SGR wagon. Thus why, the issue of squeezing and victimizing ordinary people for higher fares.
This is the reality of Capitalism; the authorities do not care for the people, and in every project, there must exist a cloak of corruption and embezzlement, while ordinary people will only pay back.
Capitalism is not concerned with the poverty and the inability of the people even in vital services because what is valued is only benefit.
In Islam, all sorts of development projects and infrastructure are meant to create employment, and vital services will be free or at least for affordable cost.
Written for the Central Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir by
Said Bitomwa
Member of the Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Tanzania