We feel the complaint by Mazhandu Family Bus Services Limited of losing about K15 million in revenue since the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) suspended its license in February this year casts the company in very poor light.
The immediate impression is that the company is more sorry for the lose of income than for the life-long pain inflicted on the many families that have suffered loss of loved ones and long-term injury from the many road traffic accidents that its buses have been involved in over the last few years.
Thr statement by the company’s finance manager Hashwell Kalinda comes out as if the company has been unfairly victimised by the authorities who invoked the law to punish Mazhandu for repeated infractions of the law.
It is common knowledge that the patience of the authorities with Mazhandu was stretched to breaking point before they took the decision to revoke its Road Service Licence; and this only after another fatal accident.
We also find complaints by Mazhandu general manager Japhet Mazhandu who has also revealed that since the suspension of the company’s operations, more than 200 workers have been affected equally misplaced.
One sympathises with the Mazhandu workers who have been inconvenienced by the company being grounded all these months, but all the blame lies squarely on the employer – not the RTSA – for failing to comply with the regulations and terms of its operating licences.
The hope is that as the company resumes operations, it will have learnt from its mistakes and the consequences it is now griping about.
The disappointing thing about the Mazhandu suspension is that for many years, the company was the model public bus service operator; clean buses, polite staff, and almost always on time. It was the standard by which all others were judged.
There is no doubt that the travelling service was well served and many will say they have missed the service. The events leading up to Mazhandu’s suspension mean that the company has to work hard and smart to win back its place in the market.
The kind of comments we heard from the company this week are unlikely to be very helpful in that sense.
However, we hail the company’s stance to ensure its drivers undergo re-examining by RTSA at Mimosa Examination and Inspection Centre in Chilanga.
The company should be made to understand that the deaths of 10 people on February 1, 2017 is what necessitated the suspension of the company’s operation.
Instead of addressing the issues cited for suspension, Mazhandu appealed to Transport and Communications Minister Brian Mushimba, resulting in the establishment of a Road Service Appeal Tribunal.
The Tribunal chaired by Chief State Advocate Joe Simachela in a Consent Judgment dated April 20, 2017 ruled that RTSA lifts Mazhandu’s license after the latter met set conditions on or before May 31 this year.
The conditions included Mazhandu availing all its vehicles to RTSA for road-worthiness as well taking all its drivers for re-examination and implementation of the Workplace Road Safety Policy.
The action taken against Mazhandu is not an isolated one and could have been done to any other transportation company violating regulations regarding safety of passengers.