Dakar, Jan 8 (APS) – The national transport company Dakar Dem Dikk (DDD) is seeking to equip itself with intelligent buses, a project which will put an end to the presence of ticket clerks on board its buses, announced its general director, Assane Mbengue.
The new smart bus service was presented to the authorities, Mr. Mbengue said in an interview published Wednesday by the daily Le Soleil.
”We had more than 90% satisfaction with the tests carried out,” he assured.
Assane Mbengue also expresses the desire of Dakar Dem Dikk to improve the quality of its services “by simplifying the mode of interaction [des voyageurs] with means of transport.
According to Mr. Mbengue, the presence of conductors on buses will no longer be necessary when this service is operational.
”Today, the receiver only exists in a few countries, including Senegal,” he said, adding that those from Dakar Dem Dikk ”will be redeployed elsewhere” than on buses, when this innovation will see the light of day.
The Africa Dem Dikk project, launched in 2020 to transport travelers between Senegal and other countries in the region, will be extended to a large number of countries, according to Assane Mbengue.
”If the resources are sufficient, we plan to go as far as Morocco and other countries in the region, including the two Guineas and Mali,” he said.
“Restructuring” is one of Dakar Dem Dikk’s projects for this year, according to its general director.
”We started this project by trying to optimize the resources made available to us. When a business operates with limited resources, it must use them optimally. This is what we are doing,” said Mr. Mbengue, specifying that the number of directorates appearing in the DDD organization chart has been reduced from 12 to nine with a view to ”optimizing resources ”.
Regularization of service providers
”If we include the service providers, we have around 3,000 agents for a payroll of more than 800 million CFA francs per month,” reported the general director of DDD.
The “plethoric” number of workers of the national transport company is not its only “problem”, Mr. Mbengue insisted, believing that the company’s difficulties also stem from a ” ‘inadequacy’ of its resources with its ‘real needs’.
”For example, it is difficult for me to release the number of buses I want because of a lack of drivers and conductors, even though the buses are available,” said Assane Mbengue.
Some recruitments carried out by DDD “have not been very efficient”, he maintained, adding that “people are recruited with permanent contracts at the expense of others, who have more seniority than them”. ”This situation has an impact on the payroll.”
Mr. Mbengue says no dismissals have taken place since he led Dakar Dem Dikk. ”We have started the regularization of service providers, with the agreement of our board of directors,” he assured.
MFD/BK/SMD/ESF
