Maendeleo ya Vitu Vs. Maendeleo ya Watu: The Cost of Traffic Jam on The Economy
One of the main rallying calls of the opposition the past few years and especially now during the campaigns is that for the past five years we seen maendeleo ya vitu vs. maendeleo ya watu, meaning a development of things rather than human development. I have always questioned this line of thinkinh for the simple fact that "things" are used by people and are meant to make the lives of people better and more convinient.
To counter this argument, I decided to do a simple research. One of the main projects of the 5th phase government has been the construction of intercity roads, especially in the business capital of Dar Es Salaam. It is a well known fact that traffic jams have been a constant problem in Dar Es Salaam for many years. Hence I decided to look into the impact of traffic jams on the economy and people's productivity.
Accoding to a research conducted in 2016 by Hosea Mpogole and Samira Msangi, 70 percent of all vehicles in Tanzania are located in Dar Es Salaam. This has caused the speed of traffic in Dar Es Salaam to be at 25.6 km/hr and it goes down to as low as 10km/hr during the peak traffic hours of 07:00 to 09:00 AM and 03:00 to 08:00PM.
The research from Mpogole and Msangi shows that businesses in the country lose up to 20 percent annual profits, dailly loss are TZS 4 billion daily and TZS 1.44 trillion annually in Dar Es Salaam alone. This makes absolute sense when you consider that traffic jams lead to higher fuel costs for vehicle owners (which also leads to higher fair prices for public transportations) and higher operational costs, not to mention lowered productivity from employees who spend 2-5 hours on average in traffic daily.
The research also shows the social impact of traffic as many patients die on their way to hospitals and the time it takes for commuters to travel leaves them with little time to rest and hence an increased stress level and lowered productivity. This also leads to a reduced time people spend with their families. This also affefts students who spend hours commuting to and from their schools which directly affects their performances in academics and leaves them with little to no time for extracurricular activities.
This is just one example of how the development of things positively impacts human development. This is why I find it disingenuous and borderline dangerous when some politicians preach to their base and the population at large that some how 'maendeleo ya vitu' is mutually exclusive to maendeleo ya watu. The two go hand in hand.
This is why I welcome the government's efforts to build a better road network in Dar Es Salaam. As the commercial hub of the country it important that we utilize the city's full potential for the benefit of the entire country. It is my hope that the government would also consider a super highway project so as to also reduce the commuting time from region to region.
Just to summarize; better roads will lead to 1) economic growth, a more productive people, healthier people, and a lower price in goods and service. Now if that is not maendeleo kwa ajili ya watu then I don't know what is.
Thomas Joel Kibwana
