Prasa’s level 3 plans could be ‘disaster’
Issues of safety, security and screening measures presented by the administrator of Prasa were not reassuring to the committee, said roads and transport committee chairperson Dumisani Dakile.
Prasa’s measures to move to operations under lockdown level 3 could be a disaster, according to a portfolio committee.
Issues of safety, security and screening measures presented by the administrator of Prasa were not reassuring to the committee, said roads and transport committee chairperson Dumisani Dakile.
Some of the doubts were prompted by the fact that Prasa has no indication of average figures of their daily commuters.
Dakile was referring to the Gauteng legislature portfolio committee on roads and transport, which has expressed dissatisfaction on the measures presented by Prasa for level 3 operations.
Dakile said it was recently briefed by Prasa administrator Bongisizwe Mpondo on measures in place.
This as the country prepared to move to level 3 under which the bulk of working-class citizens would go back to work and trains are expected to be operationally effective.
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Plans presented by Prasa are short of a Gauteng province integrated system. It could lead to a public transport disaster, the committee said.
He said in the presentation for level 3 operations, Prasa and Metrorail would only have one line in operation in the Gauteng province.
This was an issue because it only addressed the north Gauteng commuters and left out all other regions in the province.
Dakile said Prasa’s mitigation plans were lacking strength as the rail agency was not informed on any context of their operations including that of daily commuters.
We understand that Prasa is under administration.
We are also aware of the immense challenges faced by the institution even before the lockdown.
However, unfortunately, Prasa has not been convincing in their plans that they are ready to rise to the occasion.
READ MORE: Prasa to offer voluntary packages to avoid retrenchments
He said the committee was expecting a revised presentation that was tangible, informed and reassuring that Prasa is ready to deal with Covid-19 in trains.
The committee asked roads and transport MEC Jacob Mamabolo to convene an urgent meeting with all modes of transport institutions, including Prasa, to consolidate all public transport plans to be an integrated plan ensuring effective transport in the province during lockdown level 3.
Dakile said the meeting was scheduled to take place this week. The committee was also expecting feedback by the end of the week on the meeting’s outcome.
Public transport has been marked as a Covid-19 concern by both Gauteng premier David Makhura and President Cyril Ramaphosa recently.
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